SELECTION OF LAND 27 



{Swietenia mahogani) and its relative Swietenia macro- 

 phylla, or the mahogany of Central America, which grows 

 faster and produces a lighter-coloured wood than the West 

 Indian ; Balata (Mimusops globosa), " Purple Heart " or 

 Peltogyne ; " Poui " or Tabebuia ; are, with several others, 

 suitable trees for cultivation. 



In Central America the " mango " is largely used for 

 shelter belts. The seeds are sown in shallow, straight 

 trenches on the boundary lines on windy sides of planta- 

 tions. The trees are allowed to grow together a foot to 

 eighteen inches apart and are kept trimmed in hedge form 

 on either side, but are topped to make them bushy below, 

 and then allowed to grow to their full height. They form 

 the most effective wind screen known. A careful study 

 of the trees growing upon forest lands will often afford 

 the intending planter a fair guide as to what forest land 

 will produce. A soil producing nothing but scrubby 

 original growth can hardly be expected to produce good 

 cacao, and in fact never does. Sometimes, however, land 

 covered with heavy timber is found quite unsuitable for 

 cacao cultivation, but this is the exception rather than the 

 rule, and much must depend upon the planter's own faculty 

 for observing surrounding conditions, whether a successful 

 choice will eventually be made. 



In tropical countries the agriculturist is, in general, 

 conversant with the names of indigenous trees which 

 denote a soil suitable for cacao, but this, of course, is only 

 of service where virgin land is selected. 



A planter strange to the country in which he proposes 

 to settle should never choose a site, or buy properties, 

 until he has resided on the land for a sufficient length of 

 time to enable him to be capable of forming a correct 

 judgment from his own special observation, as well as 

 from the reports of other persons. 



An ideal spot on which to found a cacao plantation is a 

 well-sheltered vale, protected by mountain spurs from the 

 prevailing winds, well-watered, and yet well drained, with 

 a good depth of alluvial soil on which rests a thick deposit 



