PLANTS TRANSPORTED IN WARDIAN CASES 37 



consisting of three parts of leaf mould and one part of 

 powdered charcoal. This should be firmly pressed down 

 and the cocoa beans, prepared in a similar manner to that 

 previously recommended, spread upon it close together 

 in a single layer. Cover them an inch deep with the 

 leaf mould and powdered charcoal mixture and press it 

 firmly down. Upon the latter spread a thin layer of 

 straw, fine twigs, or similar material and nail this tightly 

 down with thin wooden battens an inch wide and about 

 three-quarters of an inch distant from each other. To 

 keep the straw or twigs in position it is necessary to fix 

 the battens at right angles to the direction in which 

 the former layer is placed. When the case has been 

 properly closed it is ready for despatch. 



The beans will germinate in from ten to fifteen days. 

 As provision is made in the Wardian case for the admission 

 of both air and light the cocoa seedlings are enabled 

 to develop unhindered, and upon arrival at their destina- 

 tion should be at once transferred to pots or baskets 

 and placed under nursery shelters. 



Nurseries. — If it is not feasible to raise the young cocoa 

 trees in the situations it is intended they shall occupy 

 in the plantation they must first be raised in nurseries and 

 transferred to the plantation when established. Sowing 

 the beans in nursery beds is not recommended, as the 

 young plants develop a substantial tap-root which is 

 frequently injured when they are transplanted, and 

 results in an unnecessarily high mortality in the plan- 

 tation. The beans should therefore be sown in baskets 

 or pots, from which they may be more readily trans- 

 planted and with less damage to the roots. As it gener- 

 ally takes from six to eight months to raise nursery plants 

 large enough for transplanting in the field, to avoid loss 

 of time it is necessary to regulate the date of sowing 

 accordingly. 



The site for the nursery should be chosen in a well- 

 sheltered situation adjacent to the plantation. For the 

 protection of the young plants it is advisable to erect 

 temporary nursery shelters, by fixing stout, upright 

 posts about 8 ft. high, in lines 10 ft. apart each way, and 

 then on these cross bars ; the whole being sufficiently 

 strong to support a thin layer of palmleaves, split bamboos, 

 or some similar material. It will be found that under 



