COCOA-GROWING COUNTRIES 455 



is here never allowed to develop. Only when the tree 

 is weakened or in bad condition for instance, being 

 damaged by worms or otherwise one sucker at the 

 foot of the tree is allowed to grow up in order to 

 renew the tree. My opinion is that for many trees in 

 Surinam a light pruning is useful. It improves its 

 bearing power to keep the foliage system not too dense 

 in the middle of the tree. It must not be forgotten 

 that every tree must be considered individually and a 

 single rule cannot be given, but in many trees in 

 Surinam the natural growth tends to make the foliage 

 system very dense and the removal of a part of the 

 twigs in the centre of the tree seems to be useful 

 (Fig. 135). 



Picking is performed by means of the ordinary 

 cutlass, and, for the fruits hanging at the higher 

 branches, by means of a cocoa -hook of the form 

 indicated in Fig. 63 6. 



The variety most generally planted is the Amelonado, 

 though here and there other Forastero types are to be 

 found. Criollo, however, is nowhere present. 



It may be that this fine variety, which is in many 

 respects less strong than Forastero, would not be suit- 

 able for being planted on a large scale ; most probably 

 the stiff clay soil would not suit its requirements. 

 In the Experimental Garden of the Department of 

 Agriculture a few Criollo types were planted on a sandy 

 soil ; some strong trees were obtained, but the majority 

 were weak ones. 



Of the Forastero variety, however, many types are 

 present. Most of them, however, belong to the 

 Amelonado group. The most common type (Fig. 136, 

 and Fig. 32, p. 92) is rather smooth and broad. 



The types vary a little on different plantations. 

 On some plantations a short Amelonado, a little pointed 

 towards the apex (Fig. 137), is the most prevalent one ; 

 on other plantations the most common type has rather 

 deep furrows, and resembles the Ecuador Amelonado 

 (Fig. 138), or it is rather broad or rather smooth, 



