DISBUDDING TO INCREASE BRANCH FORMATION 51 



removed. Shoots growing in an upward or outward 

 direction from the centre of the tree should be retained 

 in preference to those which grow with a tendency in 

 a contrary direction. It is impossible to state definitely 

 how many branches should be pruned or how many 

 should be left. The art of pruning must be learnt by 

 experience, but it is a good rule not to cut out a healthy 

 branch. The same branch can be pruned off later if 

 necessary, but it cannot be replaced when cut off. 



Where a paucity of branches occurs the branch system 

 may be increased by pinching out the terminal buds of 

 the principal branches. 



Trees are often robbed of valuable branches when this 

 could be avoided by a little forethought. It frequently 

 happens that a branch hanging across another may be 

 saved from the pruning-knife by propping it up with a 

 stout stake. 



Before cutting off a branch which bends downward 

 and drags on the ground an endeavour should be made 

 to put it into place by means of a stout prop. 



In an estate where pruning has been neglected all 

 undesirable branches should not be thinned out at one 

 operation, or the growth of the trees will be severely 

 checked for the reasons already explained. A properly 

 executed, annual pruning is sufficient. The best season 

 to prune is when the sap is least active, and this fre- 

 quently coincides with the end of the principal crop 

 season. Most cocoa trees carry more or less fruit all 

 through the year, but they invariably produce more 

 fruit during a particular period — usually towards the 

 end of the rainy season. The removal of large branches 

 is very rarely necessary from cocoa trees which have 

 been always properly pruned; indeed, the best pruned 

 trees are those from which all undesirable growths have 

 been removed with a pocket pruning-knife. In the case 

 of old trees which have been neglected in the matter of 

 pruning a large and a small saw and pruning shears must 

 be brought into requisition. These are also necessary 

 for the removal of dead branches. ^■ 



In cutting out large branches the weight of the foliage 

 often causes the branch to split near where the incision 

 is being made, resulting in an ugly, splintered wound. 



