PROFIT FROM CATCH CROPS 33 



the cocoa, so as to have shade ready for the newly trans- 

 planted cocoa seedlings. 



at the end of first year. 



Bananas or Plantains, Musa spp. — In countries where 

 favourable facilities exist for marketing the fruit, the 

 adoption of bananas for shading purposes proves a 

 valuable adjunct to cocoa cultivation, as the profits 

 obtained from the sale of the fruit can be made to cover 

 the cost of up-keep until the cocoa comes into bearing. 

 This plant is very hardy and grows rapidly from the 

 suckers which are produced from the root-stocks of 

 mature trees. 



In the East the word plantain is synonymous with 

 banana, but it is here used in reference to the variety 

 of Musa paradisiaca, which does not yield sweet fruits ; 

 these are generally boiled or baked and eaten as a vege- 

 table. 



Cassava or Manioc, Manihot utilissima. — The well- 

 known tapioca or manioc flour is obtained from the 

 enlarged root of this plant, and its cultivation, as a catch 

 crop with Hevea brasiliensis in Malaya, has been known 

 to pay for the cost of up-keep during the first four years 

 from the establishment of the plantation. It is readily 



3 



