THE CACAO-TREE. 21 



the bark of the trunk and girdle the trees. 

 After a few years of care all danger from 

 this source is removed. The only disease 

 to which the tree is subject is la mancha, 

 which is an affection similar to the pear 

 blight in the United States, though not so 

 obstinate and fatal, and which, by promptly 

 cutting away the diseased bark, may be 

 usually arrested. The squirrels and wood- 

 peckers also must be guarded against, as 

 they are very fond of the young fruit. It 

 happens too, though rarely, that a period 

 of ten or twelve days of continuous rainy 

 and cloudy weather ensues, in which event 

 much of the fruit is blighted and falls from 

 the trees. These, it is believed, comprise 

 all the casualties to which the tree and the 

 green crop are exposed ; but which, when 

 compared with the usual contingencies that 

 affect our own orchards and fruit crops, 

 may not be considered more damaging or 

 discouraging. 



44 In the tillage of the soil and the econo- 



