MANORING AND PRUNING". ■ 23 



This practice is a reasonable one as the trees are then devoid 

 of both flowers and fruit and therefore sufi'er no possibility of 

 injury. 



On the first class estates where cultivation is carried out ia 

 the best manner, the tree should annual!}' receive attention in, 

 the matter of pruning, ifcc. Every tree should be visited and 

 carefully examined. On many estates in Trinidad it is the- 

 practice to prune only at intervals of once in three or four years. 

 Such cannot be considered good practice, as I have before showni 

 that the less pruning done to a tree at one operation, the better. 



It should be remembered that a cut made in pruning a tree,, 

 is just as much a wound, as a cutting of a finijer frojn the^ 

 human body, and that although the plant may repair the injury 

 to a certain extent, still the wound remains, and produces a 

 certain disorganization of tissue, not seldom resulting in decay 

 and death. 



In making cuts care should be taten, always to make them 

 at an angle that will shed the rain from the wound, as nothing; 

 is so conducive to the entrance of fungi, as the maintenance of a 

 constant state of humidity on a wounded surface. 



The cultivator should be careful in re noving and burning; 

 as far as possible prunings from the grounc. If left to rot upon 

 the plantation these prunings become the home of innumerable 

 wood destroying insects, and beetles which are inimical to the- 

 welfare of the Cacao plant. There is nothing like tidiness and 

 cleanliness in any cultivation, and departure therefiom is sures- 

 to produce sooner or later its concomitant evils. 



The practice of pruning, the way to hold knife or saw, 

 cutlass or cacao hook, cannot be taught by any writer. The 

 inexperienced should seek practical instruction, and even then 

 it requires a considerable amount of time and experience ere hj 

 will be able to handle his tools with dextei ity and precision. 



The difference between a slovenly cut and a clean cut are- 

 at once apparent when the work is compared, and no workmai* 

 should be permitted to practice pruning upon valuable trees, 

 until he is well accomplished in the practical use of the tools, 

 employed. 



The skilful pruner can, by a proper handling of his tools, 

 and cutting back to buds situated in the positions from which 

 he desires a branch to come, form the tree at will into the shape 

 he requires, and the plantations in which such skill is exhibited, 

 ■will always present a tidy and cultivated appearance, while 

 those treated by the negligent and unskilful pruner will always 

 look untidy and irregular. 



Good maxims for the cultivator are, "pmne little, but 

 prune often ; prune carefully, but prune with decision. Prone 

 for a large amount of healthy leaf surface, and a crop will come.* 



