40 PROPAGATION 



with a means of regulating the grade of his crop 

 throughout the whole of his estate. 



Budding may be effectively carried out in both old and 

 young plantations. In regard to the former, suckers 

 from the old stocks should be operated upon and the old 

 main stem removed when the buds have become thor- 

 oughly established. Young plants may be budded 

 previously to planting them out in the plantation, or 

 young plants established in the plantation may be budded. 

 If a strip of bark be cut from a cocoa tree and then care- 

 fully replaced and bound up it will re-unite. In the 

 same way, if a strip of bark be cut off one cocoa tree and 

 a similar piece be cut from another and properly placed 

 and bound up on the wound of the first tree, this will 

 generally unite, and should it contain a healthy bud this 

 will eventually develop into a branch and produce fruits 

 similar to its parent. 



The success of the operation depends upon the junction 

 of the cambium tissue of the stock with that of the bark 

 containing the bud which it is desired to propagate. For 

 this to be effected it is obviously necessary to bring these 

 tissues in close proximity to each other. 



The cambium is the light-coloured, rapidly-growing 

 tissue situated between the wood and the inner bark, and 

 may be recognised when a cross-section is made of a young, 

 woody stem. When bark is stripped off a stem a portion 

 of the cambium tissue is usually taken away and the other 

 remains adhering to the wood. The best time of the 

 year to conduct budding operations is during the rainy 

 season, when the sap is most active. The variety best 

 adapted for the stock wiQ of necessity vary in different 

 countries, it is therefore advisable to choose for this 

 purpose a locally cultivated variety which is hardy, 

 prolific, and disease resistant ; these qualities are most 

 commonly found in the Forastero varieties. Although 

 the high quality of the beans produced by the CrioUo and 

 T. pentagona varieties commends them for this method 

 of propagation, discrimination is necessary, as a particular 

 variety will invariably be found to be less subject to 

 disease and more prolific in a specific district than others. 

 Whenever possible, select stocks for budding with a stem 

 of a half to an inch in diameter. The bark containing the 

 bud should be cut off about three inches long, about 



