2 SELECTION OP LAND. 



Shelter belts of timber should be left on the windward side 

 <of a plantation when it is being made from the original Forest, 

 and on established Estates it would be found economical and 

 -convenient to cultivate to windward such Timber trees as will 

 form good " wind breaks" while at the same time, they will 

 grow into and afford ample material for erection and repairs of 

 suitable buildings for residences, and for the purpose of curing 

 and storing of the crop. 



In Nicaragua the Mango tree is planted for shelter 

 though of little use for timber. The seeds are sown a foot or 

 fifteen inches apart, in straight trenches on the windy sides of 

 ^ihe plantations. The trees are allowed to grow close together 

 and are kept trimmed, hedge fashion, on either side, but allowed 

 to grow to their full height. Thus grown they form the most 

 ^efficient wind-break I have seen used. 



A careful study of the trees growing upon Forest lands will 

 afford the intending planter a fair guide as to what the land 

 will produce. A soil producing nothing but scrubby original 

 .growth can hardly be expected to produce good Cacao, and in 

 ;fact never does. Sometimes however, land covered with heavy 

 Timber is found quite unsuitable for cacao cultivation, but this 

 Is the exception rather than the rule, and much must indeed 

 depend upon the planter's own faculty for observing surrounding 

 conditions, whether a successful choice will eventually be made. 



A planter strange to the country in which he proposes to 

 settle, should never choose a site, or buy properties, until he has 

 resided in the land for a sufficient length of time to enable him 

 to be capable of forming a correct judgment from his own special 

 observation, as well as from the reports of other persons. 



An ideal spot on which to found a Cacao plantation is, a 

 well sheltered vale, covered with large trees, protected by 

 mountain spurs from the prevailing winds, well watered, and 

 .yet well drained, with a good depth of alluvial soil on which 

 rests a thick deposit of decayed vegetable matter, easy of access, 

 and in a district distant from lagoons or marshes for the sake of 

 the proprietor's health. Such a spot in a climate similar to 

 that of Trinidad could not fail to produce regular crops of the 

 finest quality of Cacao. 



Elevation above sea-level has also to be considered in 

 choosing groui.d for planting Cacao. The higher the elevation 

 *he lower the degree of temperature experienced, and the trees 

 make smaller growth and give less in annual produce. 



Plantations existing at over a thousand feet above sea-level 

 in Trinidad are few and far between, and cannot take rank 

 -among first-class estates. 



