70 CACAO 



but not all at once, as heavy prunings always seriously 

 interfere with the growth of the tree. Heavy pruning 

 should always be done with a saw, and the wounds should 

 afterwards be smoothed over with a sharp knife or chisel, 

 as they always heal better if thus treated, and, besides, 

 they should be covered with a coating of tar and clay or 

 other antiseptic dressing, to prevent the entrance of 

 parasitic fungi, and the cacao beetle from laying its eggs 

 in the wounded parts. 



A mixture of coal-tar and clay, as described below, 

 may most conveniently be applied to all wounds. Pruning 

 with a cutlass, knife, or cacao hook should never be allowed. 

 The instruments used should be those which are able to 

 carry a keen edge, and the primers should always be 

 supplied with the means of properly sharpening their tools 

 without leaving the field. 



The time for pruning the cacao-tree is a subject of 

 frequent discussion, on account of the influence which 

 the moon is supposed to have upon the flow of the sap, 

 &c. Such discussions are interminable. Some assume 

 that the sap, like the blood of an animal, courses through 

 the vessels of a plant periodically, and that the moon has 

 direct influence upon the flow. Some again conclude that 

 a tree has more sap in its branches at full moon than at 

 other times, while others declare that insects attack the 

 trees more at full moon than at other times. In nearly 

 all these cases the premise is erroneous, and therefore 

 the conclusion cannot be a correct one. 



If the moon has any influence, the writer may at once 

 confess that in all his practice he has never discovered it. 

 He would ask those who assert that the moon has influence 

 on the condition of a cacao-tree to prove it by something 

 more than mere assertion, and to allow him the privilege 

 of dissent until such proof is made known. The writer 

 does not desire any one to accept his opinion, viz., that the 

 moon is entirely a negligible quantity, unless he may 

 choose to do so, but he objects entirely to be forced to 

 accept the opposite conclusion. If it pleases certain 



