COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 401 



obtained by green manuring with Crotallaria and an 

 application of lime to the amount of 2 tons per acre ; 

 the second-best results were obtained with nitrate of 

 sodium (800 Ibs. per acre) ; followed by cattle manure 

 (10 tons per acre). 



For particulars reference may be made to the figures 

 given in the Annual Eeports of the Botanical Garden, 

 Peradeniya. 



Systematic pruning of cocoa trees is an operation 

 which is hardly known or very rarely practised in 

 Ceylon. Cleaning the trees, however, is generally done, 

 often only after crop-time, during the dry months 

 from January to April ; in this case the work is done 

 together with the treatment of the stems against 

 canker. 



The regular removal of all the suckers is generally 

 practised, and it has been recognised that the cultiva- 

 tion of suckers at the right time is often the means of 

 saving a plant which is attacked by canker disease. 



The shelling or breaking is done either by means of 

 a knife or small cutlass, or by pressing the fruit against 

 a steel cutting surface lodged in a piece of wood. The 

 seeds are collected in baskets, and the shells are gener- 

 ally buried in pits. 



The cocoa plant is attacked in Ceylon by a few 

 troublesome enemies. The most serious insect pest is 

 the Helopeltis, while of the fungoid diseases the canker 

 and the black rot of pods are often the cause of 

 considerable loss. 



The canker disease began to get troublesome at the 

 end of the last century. At present the method of 

 catting and burning all the diseased parts is generally 

 adopted, and it is supposed that in this way the disease 

 is kept in check. It has been recommended to watch 

 the disease the whole year round, and not to wait for 

 the measures mentioned, but to inspect the trees every 

 month. The judicious thinning out of too dense shade 

 has also helped in fighting the disease. In some cases 

 good results were reported from a treatment of the 



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