6 . SELECTION OP SEED 



Having secured good seed, the planter has to decide upon his- 

 nursery, and the methods he will employ for the purpose of 

 raising sufficient stock, to plant out the ground he has prepared. 

 Every planter has his own views, as to the best method of 

 raising seeds and the position most suitable for nurseries. What 

 I should consider a bad method would be ; a nursery made in 

 stiff' clay soil permeated by the roots of surrounding trees and 

 covered by their heavy shade, seeds sown thickly without 

 removing pulp, some deep, others on the surface, beds sometimes 

 allowed to get dust dry, at other times deluged with water. 

 Such, cannot be expected to produce healthy plants. On the 

 contrary, Nurseries made in a friable soil, well pulverized, in an 

 open situation, the seeds well cleaned and sown regularly their 

 own diameter beneath the surface of the soil, carefully watered 

 when required, artificially shaded from the direct rays of the sun, 

 protected from the trampling of animals, the ravages of rats 

 and mice, and carefully weeded, when required ; may reasonably 

 be expected to produce strong and healthy plants. With those 

 who prefer raising plants in boxes a very handy and economical 

 method all things considered the best method to employ would 

 be to procure well rotted and sifted Coco-nut refuse and to sow- 

 the seeds regularly, about |- inch below the surface, the boxes 

 being made about six inches in depth and well drained. If 

 Coco-nut refuse is not to hand, a suitable substitute may be 

 found in well decomposed leaf mould. Immediately the plants 

 have developed their first pair of leaves, they may be potted or 

 transferred to nursery beds in both cases, shading them until 

 well established. If transferred to beds, the plants should be 

 put out, about twelve inches apart each way taking especial care 

 not to place the plant too low in the ground. More plants die 

 from this cause than from any other, both in nursery and in 

 the field. No plant whatever, whether Cacao or any other, 

 should ever be placed in the ground lower than the position in 

 which it stood in the soil as a seedling. Many people tell us a 

 great deal about "tap-root." Personally I have no reverence 

 whatever for even the name of " tap-root" but at the same time 

 I have every respect for the principle which has led t > the great 

 respect paid to the " tap-root," by the greater number of West 

 Indian planters ; and this principle is, that even the slightest 

 damage cannot occur to any root without loss to the plant with 

 which it is connected. 



Every care should therefore be taken not to injure roots, 

 and in making nurseries, it is best to use a friable soil, for the 

 plants can always be removed from this without the injury they 

 are sure to sustain when grown in heavy soil, as it shakes off the 

 roots readily and leaves them uninjured when ready for planting. 



