THE COMPOSITION OF COCOA TREES 



17 



Wright, Theobroma Cacao or Cocoa, has drawn up the 

 subjoined table from Marcano and Cockrane's investi- 

 gations, in Venezuela and Ceylon respectively, to show 

 the chemical ingredients in the trees occupying an acre 

 of land : 



COMPOSITION OF ONE ACRE OF COCOA TREES 



Nitrogen 

 Lime 

 Magnesia 

 Potash . 

 Phosphoric acid 



Marcano. 



Ib. 

 201 



400 



111 



251 



95 



Cockrane. 

 Ib. 

 123 

 313 



86 



277 

 42 



The quantitative variations in these analyses are no 

 doubt attributable to the different ages of the trees in 

 the two countries, and to the fact that Cockrane's analyses 

 include roots. 



The Chemical and Physical Characters of Cocoa Soils. 

 The relatively high percentages of lime and potash in the 

 foregoing analyses are specially noteworthy as indicative 

 of the cocoa tree's demands in these respects. It is, how- 

 ever, important to bear in mind that a chemical analysis of 

 a soil does not always indicate the amount of plant-food 

 present in a soluble form and available for a plant's im- 

 mediate use. Still, it is significant that soils which pro- 

 duce good crops of cocoa are generally rich in potash. 



Hart (Cacao) furnishes the following analyses of good 

 and poor cocoa soils as determined in British Guiana : 



2 



