20 COCOA : ALL A150UT IT. 



Planting from Nurseries : — Where planting at stake is not 

 practicable, it is advisable to establish, beforehand, nurseries raised 

 from seed of the best varieties, so as to have plants ready for 

 putting out with the first rains. If the number be small it would 

 be better to raise the plants in bambu pots, as well for convenience 

 of transport as for protection to the young plants in the process of 

 transplanting. "^ 



Cacao trees in good situations begin to bear in about the 

 third or fourth year. Individual trees will, however, sometimes 

 show fruit when only two years old, but it is much better for the 

 trees themselves that they should be stripped and not allowed to 

 bear till at least the fourth or fifth year. A Cacao plantation 

 should be in fair bearing from the sixth to the ninth years, and 

 at its prime about the twelfth year. 



Gathering Crop : — Although Cacao is in bearing more or less 

 all the year round, the chief crop seasons are in May and June, 

 and again in October and November — these are known in 

 Venezuela, where the famous Caracas Cacao is grown, as the 

 St. John's and Christmas crops, respectively. 



* Mr. Hart says : "With those who prefer raising plants in boxes, the best method 

 would be to procure well-rotted and sifted coco-nut refuse, and to sow seeds about 

 ^-inch below the surface, the boxes being about six inches in depth, and well-drained. 

 A suitable substitute for Coco (Coker)-nut refuse 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, especial care must be taken not to plant too 

 low in the ground, * * * covered with about one inch of soil.' 



