402 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



[May, 1912, 



THE WORLD'S OUTPUT OF COCOA 

 IN 1908 AND 1909. 



Revue Scientiflque, 29e annee, No, 11, P. 

 346. Paris, 9 September, ML 



(Bulletin of the Bureau of Agricultural 

 Intelligence and of Plant- Diseases. 

 2nd Year — Numbers 8. 9, 10 

 August-September-October, 1911,) 



During the ten years, period from 1899 

 — 1909 the total production of cocoa rose 

 from 99,886,649 kilogrammes to 204,660,000 

 kilogrammes ; therefore it more than 

 doubled, showing an average annual in- 

 crease of 10,000 tons. 



Brazil continues to lead the producing 

 countries with 33,730 tons in 1909, being 

 an excess of 770 tons over 1908. The ex- 

 ports of that country are made up in 

 very great part of Bahia produce, which 

 in 1909 totalled 28,783,080 kilogrammes. 

 After Brazil come : Equador (30,650 tons 

 in 1909), Trinidad (23,260 tons), Venezuela 

 (16,890 tons), San Domingo (14,820 tons), 

 etc. 



The American group produced in 1909 

 137,260 tons as against 137,070 tons in 1908. 



The harvests in San Thome continue to 

 progress (28,560 tons in 1908, and 29,620 in 

 in 1909) and they furnish a cocoa which is 

 more and more appreciated. 



The vigorous impulse given to the cul- 

 tivation of cocoa in the British West Afri- 

 can Possessions finds expression in a con- 

 siderable increase of the exports (14,260 

 tons in 1908 and 22,470 in 1909). There is 

 no certainty, however, that this remark- 

 able progress will be continued for any 

 long time to come owing to the want of 

 care in native cultivations. 



The progress made by the German 

 Colonies is very appreciable, The Ger- 

 man output rose from 2,740 tons in 1908 

 to 3,400 tons in 1909, 2,800 tons coming 

 from Kamerun. The African group pro- 

 duced in all 48,440 tons in 1908 and 56,860 

 tons in 1909. 



PLANTING OF IMMORTEL FOR 

 SHADE IN CACAO. 



(From the Department of Agriculture, 

 Trinidad and Tobago Bulletin, Vol. 

 X.,No. 69, December, 1911.) 



The usual practice in Trinidad is to 

 plant Immortel from stumps, that is to 

 say, from branches more or less the thick- 

 ness of one's wrist. The prevalence of 

 this practice is due to the impression 

 that trees planted in this way grow more 

 rapidly. This impression is in my 

 opinion erroneous, and the practice has 

 serious disadvantages. Trees planted 

 from stumps can have no tap roots, and 

 are consequently liable to be more easily 

 blown down and cause immense damage 

 to the cacao. 



During the last two or three years I 

 have paid special attention to the plant- 

 ing of the immortel in contracts on the 

 Endeavour Estate at Chaguanas, with 

 the object of suppressing the method of 

 planting from stumps. Needless tc say, 

 great difficulties were experienced in 

 getting the contractors to put in small 

 plants, and still more so, to plant from 

 seed at stake. These difficulties have 

 almost entirely disappeared, as expe- 

 rience has shown that when young 

 plants, not more than twelve inches 

 high, are used at any time between June 

 and December, the growth of the tree is 

 just as vigorous at the end of a year or 

 two as when a stump has been planted. 

 When the plants are taken out with any 

 degree of care, no damage is done to the 

 tap root, and it takes no more time or 

 trouble to dig out and plant the small 

 trees than it does to cut and plant a 

 branch. Planting from seed at stake is 

 in my opinion the most advantageous 

 for the proprietor and contractor alike. 



When this method is adopted the 

 proprietor may be certain that he has a 

 tree with a tap root which can offer 

 greater resistance to the wind ; it has 

 cost the contractor less time to plant, 

 and it has, if anything, within a couple 



