IX 



COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 435 



surrounded by a strong embankment to prevent the 

 water of the river flooding the cocoa fields at high-tide : 

 an accident which would have very serious results, 

 because the river - water is brackish near the sea, 

 where the plantations are situated, and in time of 

 drought even salt. The front embankment has to 

 keep away the river-water, while it is the task of the 

 back embankment (or " back-dam " as it is sometimes 

 called) to keep away the bush- water or swamp- water 

 behind the plantation, which rises in the rainy season to a 



FIG. 127. Plantation in Surinam (plantation " Vredeuburg"). 



considerable height. When the rainfall is exceptionally 

 heavy, a break in the back-dam sometimes occurs ; this 

 is always a serious thing, which needs immediate repair 

 to avoid the loss of the low-lying fields. 



The planter must therefore never forget to keep his 

 embankments in good order. But a matter of still 

 greater care, and which needs constant attention, is the 

 drainage. 



In these low-lying lands there is no natural drainage 

 as in those countries where cocoa fields are situated 

 on the slopes of the mountains, and the planter in 



