440 COCOA 



CHAP. 



moving power, boats and even open punts can go to 

 and fro to town, making use of the tide-movement of 

 the river, going down the river with the ebb-tide and 

 up the river with the flood-tide. 



This makes the transport of the crop to Para- 

 maribo, as well as the conveyance of implements and 

 other goods from the town, very cheap and easy, and 

 the cocoa-planter is in this respect in a much better 

 position here than in other countries, where all the 

 goods have to be carried by mule-carts to and from 

 the plantation, often across mountains. 



All the plantations are situated along the coast zone 

 on the heavy clay, which is brought there by the sea. 

 The origin of this clay is to be found in Brazil : the 

 Amazon throws constantly an enormous amount of 

 mud into the ocean, and the current which runs along 

 that part of the coast of South America carries it to 

 the coast of Surinam. 



This sea-clay, which constitutes the soil of almost 

 all the plantations here and there a sand-ridge runs 

 through the clay is a heavy but a rich soil. In the 

 rainy season it is very slippery, while it is very hard 

 and cracks deeply in the dry season. 



Of the many analyses one may be mentioned, made 

 by Professor Harrison in Demerara. This soil can be 

 regarded as being of an average constitution : 



Organic matters and combined water . . 15-452 



Phosphoric anhydride . . . . . 0-139 



Sulphuric anhydride . . . . 0*047 



Chlorine ....... trace 



Iron peroxide . . . . . . 5*952 



Alumina . . . ... . . 16-076 



Manganese oxide . . . . . . nil 



Calcium oxide . . . . . .0-495 



Calcium carbonate ...... nil 



Magnesium oxide . . . . . . TO 71 



Potassium oxide . . . . . . 1-072 



Sodium oxide 0*258 



Insoluble silicate and silicates .... 59-438 



100-000 

 Containing nitrogen ..... 0'306 



