46 CACAO 



and does not require the same amount of protection as on 

 the level plains, where the sun strikes it from " morn till 

 dewy eve." Instances have often been quoted where 

 shade has been removed with excellent effect. Quite so, 

 but in such a case it should never have been planted. 

 Again, trees on the roadside are often quoted, and the same 

 illogical argument is recognised. A tree may be on the 

 roadside exposed to the full sun at mid-day, and yet shaded 

 mornings and evenings. The morning sun has the greater 

 drying effect, as the drying takes place earlier in the day, 

 and the tree remains drier for a greater number of hours 

 than those exposed to a western sun, for obvious reasons. 

 While there can be no doubt whatever that in many places 

 cacao is shaded more than is actually necessary, it can 

 also be shown that in others the shading is insufficient ; 

 and the latter state occurs more frequently than the 

 former. 



It has been said that a densely shaded estate is more 

 subject to the attack of fungus diseases than one more 

 exposed. This, of course, is fully evident ; but, on the 

 other hand, unshaded lands are more liable to the attack 

 of insects, such as " thrip," " red spider," " black blight," 

 &c., than those which are sufficiently shaded. 



The removal of shade, once grown, and the planting of 

 additional shade are both difficult proceedings, the former 

 especially so, as there is not only the danger from falling 

 trees, but the danger of exposing the plants too suddenly 

 to the sun, which has be^n found to be a proceeding likely 

 to cause the destruction of many cacao-trees or to affect 

 their bearing for several years. The writer has seen in 

 Trinidad large sections of an estate almost entirely de- 

 stroyed by the sun, owing to the removal of shade, and 

 wind screens. 



Cacao estates can be more quickly brought into bearing 

 by the use of shade than without it, even the supporters of 

 " non-shade " admitting that shade is a necessity in their 

 younger stages. The estate also can be much more cheaply 

 maintained if correctly shaded, as the weedy undergrowth 



