YIELD INCREASED BY MULCHING 



67 



The mulch consisted of grass and leaves, and the 

 leaves and fruits of the Samaan, Rain or Guango tree 

 {Pithecolobium Saman), and was applied at the rate of 

 80 lb. per tree. 



Yield of Cured Cocoa in lb. pee acre from 1902 



TO 1908 



The weight of cured cocoa was arrived at by estimating 

 it at 42 per cent, of the weight of the wet product. 



The most striking feature of these experiments is the 

 exceptional yield obtained in the mulched plot. It is 

 reported that the soil in this plot was in excellent physical 

 condition and was well covered by trees planted at the 

 rate of 108 trees per acre, whereas the control-plot 

 requires 178 trees to cover the ground. 



The cocoa yielded by this plot in six years has exceeded 

 that of the control-plot by over 40 per cent. It is, how- 

 ever, important to notice that plot No. 4, which was 

 manured with dried blood, phosphate, and potash, shows 

 an increased yield of 33' 98 per cent, over that of the 

 control-plot, but plots Nos. 2 and 3, the first of which was 

 manured with phosphate and potash, and the second 

 with dried blood, show together an increased yield ol 

 38'23 per cent, over that of the control-plot. 



