NURSERIES 31 



fields, and marketed in places where the different qualities 

 are in best demand, as is done with the fruits of Europe 

 and America. The system recommended is merely that 

 which has been in use from time immemorial among the 

 vineyards and orchards of the world, and the sooner it is 

 generally introduced and adopted by the cacao planters 

 the better it will be for both grower and manufacturer. 



Under seed propagation desirable trees cannot be per- 

 petuated, as seed from them will not produce progeny 

 true to the tree from which it was taken. Under the 

 grafting process any desirable kind can be propagated and 

 perpetuated, by the million if desirable, and every tree 

 will give fruit identical with that of its parent. Whole 

 estates might be planted with a single kind, which would 

 give produce indistinguishable in quality, comparing one 

 tree with another, while under seed propagation, the 

 produce of two trees is never alike. 



Seeds may be sown in beds made up of light vegetable 

 mould, mixed with about 15 per cent, of clean river sand, 

 or they may be sown in well-drained boxes in the same 

 class of soil and afterwards placed in beds, to grow on 

 for final planting. In places where transit is difficult, 

 they may be grown in the joints of large bamboo stems 

 cut to flower-pot size, or placed in open-worked baskets 

 of split bamboo, which can readily be manufactured at a 

 cheap rate. The basket is clearly better than the bamboo 

 pot, as, in the latter, if allowed to stand too long, the roots 

 take a curl which materially hinders growth when planted 

 in the field. 



When planting from seed, however, it is well known that 

 the produce varies, and no two trees can be depended 

 upon to give pods of the same size, or beans of the same 

 size, colour, or quality. When selecting pods for seed, 

 it is clear that, if taken from the open field, only the 

 maternal parent of the seeds contained therein can be 

 known, as the interminable varieties which everywhere 

 exist clearly prove that cross-fertilisation readily takes 

 place. Variation is also to be well seen in the cured 



