COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 359 



out shade, and several attempts to grow cocoa without 

 shade may have failed because the trees were planted 

 at the same distance as when cultivated under shade. 



From the beginning care is taken in Grenada to 

 keep the soil in good physical condition, not only by 

 applying pen-manure, but also by tillage. The method 

 of tillage is, however, different on different plantations. 

 Some planters claim to have obtained the best results 

 from a system of deep forking and liberal root-pruning ; 

 others maintain that they prefer a light turning over 

 or loosening of the soil, with as little disturbance of 

 the roots as possible applying deep forking only to 

 trees which are in poor condition. 



Manure is applied in the beginning of the rainy 

 season May and June but more or less the whole 

 year through, except when the soil is very wet. 



About pruning, opinions vary in Grenada as in all 

 other cocoa-growing countries : one planter removes 

 every year a good number of twigs, while others only 

 remove the dead twigs and the suckers. 



But great care is always exercised to keep the bark 

 clean from moss, a trouble which seems to be of more 

 importance in Grenada than in many other countries. 



As explained, the cultivation without shade trees 

 compels the planter to spend more care on tillage and 

 manuring, but it gives him several advantages : 



First. The absence of shade trees saves the ex- 

 pensive work of pruning and cleaning the trees, and 

 losses so often caused by the falling of branches and 

 heavy epiphytes do not occur. 



Secondly. The cocoa trees come much earlier into 

 bearing, and a full crop is usually obtained in the fifth 

 or sixth year. 



Thirdly. It is generally accepted that the cocoa 

 without shade gives a higher yield. ' An average pro- 

 duction of 350 kilograms per acre is assumed on well- 

 managed plantations at Grenada. However, not enough 

 figures about different plantations are published to 

 establish this point satisfactorily. 



