50 PLANTING, CULTIVATING, AND PRUNING 



young trees show no signs of branching when they are 

 4 ft. high the terminal bud should be removed; this 

 induces the buds in the axUs of the leaves to develop into 

 lateral branches. Young trees which are too densely 

 shaded often grow 5 or 6 ft. high before commencing 

 to branch. 



Light pruning at frequent intervals is far better than 

 the destruction of large branches which later pruning 

 involves. 



The growth of the parts of the tree above ground is 

 in direct ratio to that of those below the ground. It 

 consequently foUows that when the branches of a tree 

 are severely pruned the growth of the roots is likewise 

 arrested. The leaves may be regarded as the laboratory 

 where plants elaborate sap which is subsequently em- 

 ployed in building up new tissues for the roots, stem, and 

 branches, and a reduction of the foliage-area of a tree 

 must of necessity restrict this operation. 



On many cocoa estates, where trees have been too 

 closely planted together, the young branches are 

 frequently pruned back with a view to limiting the 

 foliage-area of each tree to the space allotted to it in 

 the plantation. This system of pruning may yield 

 satisfactory results for a short time, but it is biologic- 

 ally unsound, as the constant restriction of the tree's 

 development must in time reduce its cropping capacity. 



Pruning operations should not be conducted with a 

 view to restricting the foliage-area of a given tree, but to 

 facilitate the development of the fruit-producing parts of 

 the tree and improving the conditions for fruitproduction 

 in their neighbourhood. It would be far better policy 

 to prune back alternate trees, thus allowing the others 

 to spread naturally, and subsequently eradicate the trees 

 which were pruned back when the unpruned trees had 

 grown sufficiently large to cover the ground occupied 

 by them. Pruning operations are of most importance 

 during the first eight or nine years of the tree's life. 

 They should be conducted with a view to obtaining well- 

 balanced trees. Any growths which tend to cross others 

 should be removed. If the branches are too thick to 

 allow of air and light penetrating to the trunk and main 

 branches, where the greatest number of flowers and 

 fruits are produced, the more weakly ones should be 



