22 MANURING AND PRUNING. 



The time for pruning the Cacao tree is the subject for 

 frequent discussions, on account of the influence which the 

 moon is supposed to have upon the flow of sap, &c., &c. Such 

 discussions are interminable. One assumes that the sap, like 

 the blood of an animal, courses through the vessels of a plant 

 periodically, and that the moon has direct influence upon the 

 flow. Another concludes that a tree has more sap in its branches 

 at. full moon than at other times, while others declare that 

 insects attack the trees more at full moon than at other times. 

 In nearly all these cases the premise is erroneous, and therefore 

 the conclusion cannot be a correct one. If the moon has any 

 influence, I may at oace confess that in all my practice, I have 

 never discovered it. I would as:k those who assert that the 

 moon has influence on the condition of a Cacao tree, to prove it 

 by something more than mere assertion, and to allow me the 

 priviledge of dissent until such proof is made known. I do not 

 desire any one to accept my opinion, that the moon is entirely a 

 negligible quantity ; unless they choose to do so, but I object 

 entirely to be forced to accept the opposite conclusion. If ifc 

 pleases certain planters to waste time and money (in my opinion) 

 in waiting for certain phases of the moon before commencing to 

 prune their trees, to gather their crop, or to sow their seed, 

 that is their affair ; but I cannot for a minute sanction or teach 

 such a doctrine, as I believe it to be incapable of proof. I know 

 that there are many men for whom I have the greatest respect 

 who regulate the work of their estates, in some part at least, 

 by the phases of the moon ; but I cannot see that it would be 

 right on that account, to dispense with the call for scientific 

 proof of the theory they adopt, as without this proof, the theory 

 is to be regarded as one upon which it would not be safe to rely. 



Whether the moon has any influence or not, had better for 

 the present be left an open question, not that I have any 

 personal doubt upon the matter, but still the question is one, 

 which take it how you will, has little or no influence upon the 

 progress of cultivation, as each individual may adhere to own pet 

 theory without being placed at any great disadvantage. In over 

 thirty years practical work in the temperate zone as well as in 

 the tropics, I have carried out hundreds of experiments bearing 

 on the subject of the moon's influence on plant life ; and yet in 

 none of these have I found anything to support the conclusion, 

 that the moon was in any way a controlling power over the 

 operations of the Agriculturist. 



The season for pruning is a different matter from the time 

 for pruning. The one fixes the time of the month, while the 

 other fixes the time of the }^ear. It is taken as an accepted 

 rule that in established Cacao, pruning or " trimming" as it is 

 called in Trinidad is best carried on at the close of "crop time." 



