SHADING CACAO 47 



of an unshaded land does not appear. The author has 

 seen the cacao-tree of commerce in its habitat. It was 

 there found to be not a forest tree, or a tree of the open 

 glades, but one always to be found growing best where 

 sufficiently protected, either by the conformation of the 

 ground or by an umbrageous covering. In Ecuador, 

 Baron Eggers, a well-known Danish botanist, reports 

 that the maintenance of the tree in the forest largely 

 depends on the seed scattered by monkeys, and that trees 

 which appear in the open are stunted, as is our solarium, 

 previously referred to. 



Before the evidence in favour of shade can be contro- 

 verted, it is necessary for the supporters of " non-shade " 

 to negative the reasons which have induced numbers of 

 intelligent men in all cacao-growing countries for decades 

 and generations to retain the practice of growing cacao 

 under shade. The present generation can hardly claim 

 all the common sense in dealing with the matter ; and 

 there must be a sufficient reason, seeing that it has been 

 continuously adopted, almost universally, by workers of 

 the long ago, who must be credited with some judgment, 

 some discretion and some common sense. 



New theories come as innovations, and the present 

 generation has a right to demand clear evidence of their 

 value before accepting them ; in fact, the onus of proof 

 lies with the innovator, but as yet sufficient evidence has 

 not been brought forward to bring converts in any number 

 to the " non-shaders' " side of the controversy, and, 

 consequently, shading remains the standing practice in the 

 general cultivation of cacao. 



In Nicaragua permanent shade is generally planted some 

 two years before the cacao is put in, and hedges of seedling 

 mango-trees, kept well-trimmed, are used as wind-breaks 

 on the boundaries or divisions of the fields. Shade trees, 

 " madera " {Gliricidia maculata), are planted in the same 

 lines as the cacao, while in some countries (as in Trinidad) 

 the shade trees are planted between the rows of cacao. 

 The former practice is, to the writer, by far the most 



