July, 1908.] 



13 



Saps and Exudations. 



of felling and burning all timber and 

 sowing the rubber seed at stake, it does 

 not at first blush commend itself to the 

 rubber planter, whose principal issue is 

 rubber and not the special value of 

 other crops. Since the partial shade 

 planting involves a rather greater outlay 

 than seed planting at stake, such objec- 

 tion is met by the following, namely, 

 that an uninterrupted large area of 

 rubber without other cultures is a 

 direct invitation to the pernicious insects 

 and increased risk from fire — in short a 

 serious disturbance in the equilibrium 

 of nature. As has been remarked in 

 Dr. Olssson-Seffer's paper, a sufficient 

 sub-dividing of rubber in blocks with 

 strips of primitive forest dividing them, 

 for the purpose of not too severely dis- 

 turbing the said equilibrium of natural 

 conditions, and further as affording 

 protection against destructive winds 

 and fire, is to be recommended. We 

 see at once that such forest divisions 

 can be ultilized for cacao growing, and 

 even if this were not so, a segregation of 

 certain blocks of an estate to be dedicated 

 to growing cacao in comparative light 

 shade with rubber would be advisable for 

 the reasons stated. Another consider- 

 ation of importance becomes appar- 

 ent, viz., the constant employ of a 

 large force of men, that will inevitably 

 be required to conduct tapping oper- 

 ations on estates of some magnitude. It 

 is clear that, if further knowledge 

 demonstrates the apparent correctness 

 of this practice acquired from such ex- 

 perience already had, viz., that tapping 

 operations afford the best results when 

 conducted through the cooler months 

 of the year, extending through Novem- 

 ber, December, January and February, 

 that such a force of men can hardly be 

 profitably employed during the balance 

 of the year, unless the plantation be 

 divided in the formation stage. But 

 provided all plantings have been made, 

 it is then evident that some other crop 

 requiring work during other months of 

 the year is admirably met with by the 

 necessary culture required by cacao. 

 When we consider that while rubber is 

 purely a silvan or first culture, cacao on 

 the contrary is requiring the best and 

 most intelligent of agricultural practice, 

 and, further, that the crop season in at 

 least that portion of the Republic 

 embraced by the writer's conclusions, 

 namely, the State of the Vera Cruz 

 and a portion of the State of Oaxaca, 

 occurs during the months of March, 

 April, and May. This is the dry season, 

 when the natural conditions without the 

 aid of drying apparatus permit a com- 

 plete curing of the crop. 



The following inquiry may now sug- 

 gest itself :— What is the return from 



cacao, planted under favourable condi- 

 tions of soil and climate, .likely Ito be? 

 First, I must say that cacao requires a 

 deep, well-drained soil, as its tap root 

 extends to a considerable depth, A poor 

 sandy or gravelly soil is unsuitable. 

 Mellow loam carrying a good percentage 

 of decayed vegetable matter, which 

 soil characterizes a goodly portion of the 

 districts under consideration, is prefer- 

 able. Shallow soils underlaid by trap 

 rock, impervious clays or strata of 

 gravel too near the surface are especi- 

 ally to be avoided, and such soils are 

 also unfavourable to the growth of 

 Castilloa. We may conclude that cul- 

 ture under the conditions described 

 promises every hope of success. The 

 writer has some 100,000 cacao trees 

 growing under his care, a part of which 

 are at Buena Ventura and the larger 

 portion at La Junta, and, further, actual 

 initial crops have been harvested and 

 sold. I have therefore not quite the 

 same sense of modesty in pressing for- 

 ward my views as under a purely hypo- 

 thetical premise. Returning, however, 

 to the question of profit, I will say at 

 once that the history of cacao is a 

 thoroughly practical one, and one with 

 ample precedent, and further that the 

 increase of consumption has outgrown 

 the supply as indicated by the steady 

 rise in value, since three years ago. 

 During this period cacao of prime qual- 

 ity has advanced in London and Ham- 

 burg markets from 60 shillings per cwt. 

 to 95 shillings and 100. We at once find 

 food for reflection from these figures, 

 and since 225 trees of cacao per acre 

 should in good bearing give 2£ to 3 lbs. 

 per tree, though commencing with a 

 compartively small yield, it will b3 

 sufficient to say that cacao is a success, 

 culturally speaking. This is the case in 

 Venezuela, Ecuador, and Ceylon, in cer- 

 tain parts of West Africa and of the West 

 Indian Islands, and the cultivation is 

 advancing, as statistics positively show. 

 I have, both on the estate in which I am 

 financially interested and in the corpor- 

 ate property which I am at present 

 managing, planted perhaps the largest 

 single plantings of cacao yet in exist- 

 ence in Vera Cruz during the past eight 

 years, and the results so far justify the 

 conclusions arrived at. 



Those taking part in the discussion 

 following this paper were Mr. W. S. 

 Murdock and Dr. P. Olsson-Seffer. — Year 

 Book of the Rubber Planters' Association 

 of Mexico, 1907-1908. 



[Cacao is proving to be perhaps the 

 best crop to grow with rubberin Ceylon. 

 The best average growth we have yet 

 measured is on an estate growing these 

 two products.— Ed.] 



