48 CACAO 



workmanlike, and has a better appearance than the West 

 Indian method. 



The distance between the rows of cacao in Nicaragua 

 is some 15 ft., and the distance between plants in the rows 

 some 7 ft., the shade trees coming at 30 ft. to 35 ft. apart 

 in the same lines, but not in every line. The madera, 

 it may be mentioned, is a smaller tree than the " mortel " 

 of the West Indies. 



In Grenada, the major part of the cacao district consists 

 of hilly land, where the trees are naturally shaded by the 

 ground itself for many hours of the day, making it un- 

 necessary to use more than a minimum of artificial shade. 



On the plains of Trinidad, however, heavier shade is 

 essential, as the general use of it fairly proves, and strong 

 additional evidence of its necessity is afforded by the refusal 

 of the cacao to thrive when insufficiently shaded. ,y' 



The " mortels " or Erythrinas, belong to the Legu- 

 minosae, and develop abundance of the nitrogen nodules 

 common to the order. The " mortel " is known in Trinidad 

 and Spanish America as the Madre-de-Cacao, or Mother 

 of Cacao, the impression being that it supplied sustenance 

 to the cacao plant, which is proved to be a truth, although 

 now understood in a different manner to that afforded by 

 tradition. It is stated in a paper placed before the 

 Agricultural Society of Trinidad that " mortel " flowers 

 add a considerable proportion of nitrogen to the soil. 

 This point will be discussed in a later chapter. 



Other leguminous plants are also capable of storing 

 nitrogen in the soil, and making it available for plants, 

 and hence where the recognised " mortel " does not thrive, 

 others of the same order (Leguminosae) may be used, such 

 as the " saman " {Piihecolobium saman), the " madera " 

 (Gliricidia maculuia), &c. &c. The latter takes premier 

 place on Nicaraguan estates to the exclusion of all others 

 in the same way as the " mortel " does in Trinidad and 

 other West Indian islands. It is a useful, small hardwood, 

 suitable for fuel or furniture, while the " mortel " is a 

 soft wood, whose branches are liable to fall, and whose 



