29 
grow tall and irregular in their effort to reach up into 
the sunlight. They become affected with various diseases 
both on account of abnormal and unhealthy growth and 
because the too humid atmosphere and absence of light 
make the conditions favorable for fungus growth. Still 
the trees grow because the temperature is even, the moisture 
plentiful and the soil in good condition for root-formation. 
The opposite of this is where a plantation has been establish- 
ed without any shade. There the trees are subject to wind 
and frequenly suffer for the want of moisture because of 
the soil being exposed. Even though the grass is cut fre- 
quently the trees will make but slow growth and almost 
invariably be in worse condition than those that are over- 
shaded. On the other hand if the plantation is located on 
the lee side of a mountain or protected from the wind by a 
forest belt and the soil well shaded by the cacao trees 
themselves or by some cover crop, the growth is normal and 
the yield satisfactory. Again, on a flat land for instance, 
where the plantation is protected by windbreaks, the soil 
cultivated and kept in good tilth, the growth and yield may 
be all that could be wished for. This would indicate that 
the shade is not for the protection of the tree, its leaves or 
its branches against the sunlight, but more for the pro- 
tection of the soil against tco rapid evaporation and for 
the maintenence of that equable temperature and humid at- 
mosphere so necessary to a great many tropical plants. This 
is probably correct unless cacao is very much different from 
other plants of similar nature. It has been found for in- 
stance in shading tobacco that as good results could be ob- 
tained from windbreaks of cheese cloth placed close enough 
together, as from overhead covering. 
It seems to be well understood in all the Islands that 
young plantations need protection, whether it is wind pro- 
