PLANTING CACAO 89 



operations, so that the chances are that after all, inferior 

 varieties will be planted. On the other hand, a proprietor 

 cannot possibly plant as cheaply as a contractor, as the 

 latter is better able to dispose of the ground provisions 

 in the local market, and thus pay himself for his labour. 

 With a dishonest contractor a proprietor often loses one 

 or two seasons, as it is frequently found that men will 

 take land, grow one or two catch crops, and instead of 

 planting cacao, disappear ! As contractors are for the 

 most part drawn from the labouring classes, the proprietor 

 has no remedy, for in the attempt to recover, he is simply 

 sustaining further loss, as he proceeds against " men of 

 straw." It is, therefore, clear that although the contract 

 system is largely in use for reasons of economy, as under 

 it there is less expenditure of capital in the earlier stages, 

 it is infinitely better that the planter should undertake 

 the work himself, if he can possibly do so. 



The method of working, even when taken up by the 

 planter himself, is very unsatisfactory, except in a few 

 cases, where there is a real endeavour to adopt other lines 

 than the old methods of peasant cultivation. There are 

 important awakenings in this respect, and West Indian 

 planters are now doing their best to follow out the lines 

 laid down by scientific agriculturists, and many and marked 

 improvements in cultivation are fairly assured. 



It has been noted in previous pages that the crops of 

 commercial cacao generally consist of a heterogeneous 

 mixture of cross-bred varieties of the Theobroma cacao of 

 Linnaeus. That certain types preponderate in various 

 countries and districts of country there is ample evidence, 

 and that these types, when collected in bulk, form the 

 characteristic samples of the several cacao-growing 

 countries, is well apparent. Now the scientific method of 

 cultivating cacao will include the selection of seed from 

 the best types obtainable when growing seedlings, and 

 the selection of scions from the best marked trees when 

 growing grafted material ; the latter being the only possible 

 jnethod whereby regular quality of high-class produce can 



