114 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



CHAP, 



Only one 

 plant to be 

 left. 



Careless 

 sowing. 



Wasteful 

 cultivation. 



Shade belts. 



proper care it answers remarkably well. Three or four seeds 

 are grown around the stake at distances of nine inches 

 from each other ; and, if all grow, the stake will be in the 

 centre, and serve as a mark for the weeders. When the 

 plants are well grown all must be removed except one — the 

 strongest and the best formed plant being left. The plants 

 taken out will do for supplying vacant holes, and they can be 

 transferred on a wet day. Some careless and ignorant 

 planters put the three or four seeds into one hole, and thus 

 when the seedlings come up they are all growing together* 

 and their roots are so entangled that when the time comes to 

 remove all but the strongest plant, that is often drawn out 

 with the rest. Other ignorant planters, seeing three or four 

 nice healthy plants growing in a hole, will leave them all, or 

 at least two of them, and thus in some plantations 2 or 3 or 

 even 4 cacao trees are seen growing together, each one 

 doing harm to its neighbour. This is, of course, wasteful 

 cultivation. 



Preparation of the Land. — The land is prepared in 

 the same manner as for coffee. (See page 96.) But when 

 the forest is cleared, shade belts should be left or afterwards 

 planted in exposed places so as to shelter the cacao trees 

 from the wind. 



Distances. 



Close 

 planting. 



Lining. — The cacao is a much larger plant than the coffee, 

 and thus it must be planted at wider distances. On rich 

 flat lands, from 15 to 18 feet will not be too wide, but on 

 poorer soil and on hill sides, from 10 to 16 feet will be the 

 proper distance. In very steep places the trees may be planted 

 closer in the descending lines than in the lateral ones ; thus, 

 if the lines be 15 feet apart laterally, the trees may be 10 or 

 12 feet apart in the descending lines, for the branches of the 

 trees above will spread out over those below, and yet allow 

 ample space for light and ventilation. If cacao be planted 

 on rather poor soil, at elevations above i,oooft., the trees may 

 be as close as ten feet, for they will not grow so large in 



