PREPARATION OF LAND 23 



Distance. The usual distance is 15 ft. by 15 ft. or 14 ft. 

 by 14 ft., but these distances are modified according to 

 circumstances, and planters are continually trying experi- 

 ments with other distances. One planter stated that a 

 hill-side of fifteen acres on the north side, planted 8 by 8, 

 yielded 8000 straight, or more than 500 to the acre. 

 Another in a hot flat district on the south side found it 

 advantageous to plant 8 by 8 in order to shade the ground 

 as soon as possible. It is stated by the advocates of close 

 planting that the crop comes in sooner, that it can be 

 regulated with greater success so as to come in during the 

 five months of high prices, and that less weeding and less 

 water are required. On the other hand, it will be found 

 necessary to remove every alternate row for first ratoons, 

 and probably for third ratoons to reduce the field to stems 

 at distances of 16 ft. by 16 ft. Where there is too much 

 shade, the tubers are apt to grow gradually higher out of 

 the ground with less hold against the wind, and the plants 

 run up with a weak stem and irregular bunch. Another 

 system is to increase the distance between the rows, and 

 decrease it between the plants in the row, making the 

 wider intervals run north and south. A planter who 

 reaped 330 payable bunches per acre, planting 14 by 14, 

 got a yield of 400 per acre when he has planted 10 ft. by 

 10 ft. It is, however, generally advisable to keep to a 

 distance of 15 ft. by 15 ft. or 16 ft. by 16 ft., but experi- 

 ments with other distances may be made on a small scale. 

 In utilising the banana for shade for cacao, the plants may 

 be put in 15 ft. by 15 ft., or perhaps better still 16 ft. by 

 16 ft. with the cacao in the same line. If the cacao were 

 planted in the centre of the square, ploughs and cultivators 

 could not be worked either way, but by planting in the 

 same line as the banana, they can be used for two or more 

 years without apparent injury to either plant. 



H. Q. Levy writes * : " I would advocate the following 

 distances, either of which will give good results : 

 14 by 14 ft., planting two separate suckers to each hole, 

 * Journ. Jam. Agric. Soc., xvi. 74. 



