CHAPTER VII 



MANURING 



In no part of the practice of the cacao planter is there 

 more divergence of opinion than in the methods most 

 suitable for applying manure, and the kind of manure 

 which it is best to apply. This arises largely from a want 

 of proper knowledge of the requirements of different soils 

 and of the tree itself. To understand properly when a 

 tree requires manure and when it does not, some standard 

 or guide is required as to what a cacao-tree in good health 

 and thriving condition really should be like. There should 

 be an ideal or standard of culture, and this should be 

 the guide in all important operations. Let us premise, 

 therefore, that a tree in good health needs no manure. 

 Such a tree is doing its work well, and to the fullest extent, 

 and therefore to feed it with manure would be like over- 

 feeding a horse, and it would just as quickly get " out of 

 condition." To make the point clear, the writer will 

 describe what his ideal is of a tree in good health. It is a 

 tree which from its seedling stages has annually made good 

 periodic growth, producing leaves and branches strong and 

 without disease or blight, one which produces an average 

 crop of fruit without dropping it prematurely, or losing it 

 by attack of parasitic diseases ; a tree which can withstand 

 a maximum of either rainfall or drought, without its 

 general bearing being affected. If it does this, it is certain 

 evidence that plant-food is present in sufficient quantity, 

 and such a tree needs no manure, for manure is but food, 

 and so long as it has a sufficient natural supply to maintain 

 it in good health it needs no artificial substitute, and will 

 do its work best without it, and to give such a supply 



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