44 COCOA 



cress, and they grow and flourish exceedingly well, 

 although they are not given any artificial shade; nor 

 are they by any means always located in a naturally 

 shady spot, for you may often see crowds of them grow- 

 ing by the roadside, exposed to the glare of the sun. 

 When the seedlings are moved to their permanent 

 quarters on the farm, they are not planted in rows 

 or in accordance with any scheme of regular spacing. 

 They are put in anywhere on the clearing so long as 

 they are so close together that as they grow up their 

 branches will meet to form a " solid " roof. By 

 excluding the light, this roof discourages the growth of 

 weeds and thereby lessens labour. Plantains are 

 liberally interspersed among the cocoa seedlings; the 

 plantains are not treated as a catch crop and removed 

 in due course when the cocoa trees are well established ; 

 consequently, when both crops are grown up, they are 

 very much in a tangle. 



GROWING HABITS. Cocoa trees grow to a height 

 of 20 feet, to 30 feet. The young leaves are yellowish 

 brown in colour ; the older ones are bright green 

 and of a remarkable size 12, 14, 18 inches or 

 more in length. Tiny little pink and yellow blossoms 

 grow in clusters on the old limbs and on the 

 trunks of the trees. The wee flowers give place to 

 little fruits like baby cucumbers, and in three or four 

 months, if the weather is favourable, these develop 

 into big pods. The clusters of flowers are called 

 "cushions." Notice how very short and slender are 

 the little stalks by which the big pods are attached to 

 the cushions. Big leaves, tiny flowers, big pods, 

 little stalks do you not find such differences in size 

 of details very striking, and is it not very strange to 

 see fruit pods growing on the trunks of trees ? The 



