Miscellaneous. 



358 



[October, 1911. 



Review. 



CACAO. 



A Manual on the Cultivation and 

 Curing of Cacao by J. H. Hart, late 

 Superintendent of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Trinidad. London, Duckworth, 

 1911, 307 pp. 



The name of Hart will always be 

 closely associated with Cacao cultivation 

 in the West Indies. By a sad stroke of 

 fate the author of this book did not 

 survive to see its publication. Mr. Hart, 

 after retiring from Government service 

 in 1908, died in Trinidad on February 

 18th, 1911, at the age of sixty-four, and 

 his loss will be deeply felt wherever 

 agriculture is pursued in the tropics. 



The work now before us makes a great 

 advance both in style and contents over 

 the paper covered volume published in 

 1892, of which we believe it represents 

 the third edition, and we have no 

 hesitation in recording our opinion that 

 the book is likely to become, and to 

 remain for many years, the standard 

 work upon the subject of Cacao. The 

 book deals successively and at length 

 with the botany and nomenclature of 

 cacao, with the operations of planting 

 and cultivation, and with the nature 

 and treatment of diseases both of animal 

 and of vegetable origin. The processes 

 of harvesting, fermenting and drying 

 are dealt with in considerable detail, 

 whilst later chapters discuss questions 

 of yield and price, food value and manu- 

 facture—in fact no branch of the subjects 

 is any way neglected. 



The methods of curing in vogue in 

 Trinidad differ considerably from those 

 employed in Ceylon, the process of clay- 

 ing, for example, being one which is not 

 very likely to find favour in this country, 

 But the best methods of estate treat- 

 ment and cultivation are probably much 

 the same all the world over, and in this 

 connection we would specially commend 

 to Ceylon readers the twelve pages 

 which deal with "manuring," and which 

 contain in our opinion an admirable 

 epitome of this difficult subject. Mr. 

 Hart's views on manuring are the result 

 of long continued experience of practical 

 work upon actual cacao estates, his con- 

 clusions are remarkably confirmed by 

 the result of scientific experiments 

 carried out during the past nine years 

 at Peradeniya. 



"Let us premise," writes Hart, " 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." And 

 again, "The application of strong 

 manures to trees in good health and in 

 average bearing would tend to encour- 

 age rank and sappy growth which would 

 be non-productive and loss of crop would 

 result." Manures may, however, be 

 employed with advantage to bring back- 

 ward trees into bearing, or to enable a 

 tree which has set a heavy crop to bring 

 that crop to maturity. 



The practise of deep forking, and even 

 that of digging manures into the ground 

 is unhesitatingly condemned. *' To dig 

 deeply about the roots of a surface 

 feeding plant for the purpose of apply- 

 ing manure would be absolutely absurd, 

 as we should thereby destioy the very 

 organs or mouths, which are needed to 

 take up the plant food presented to 

 them, and are situated in the proper 

 place to carry out the process to the best 

 advantage." " The writer has seen the 

 practise carried out with dire effect more 

 than once in Trinidad, and it is quite 

 certain that, although it may be carried 

 out with considerable safety in a tem- 

 perate climate, when trees are at rest, it 

 is fraught with the greatest danger in 

 the tropics." 



" The destruction of roots which the 

 operation of burying manure occasions, 

 would, in most cases, completely nullify 

 the action of the manure applied, as the 

 broken roots would not have the power, 

 or the same amount of surface for 

 absorbing food, as when uninjured." 

 And again, "The cacao tree, although it 

 likes a deep rich soil, is also a surface- 

 feeding plant, and the ground around 

 the trees cannot be forked or dug with 

 impunity, for, although the tvee will 

 stand considerable hardship, it is never- 

 theless materially injured when the roots 

 are mutilated." 



The best kind of manure for cacao, 

 according to Hart is dung, and it should 

 be applied superficially in the form of a 

 mulch. Any kind of a mulch is bene- 

 ficial, and it would appear as if the 

 surface feeding roots are specially sen- 

 sitive and require special protection, so 

 that any removal of the natural surface 

 mulch or leaves which covers the ground 

 of all good cacao estates would be highly 

 injurious. 



It is clearly impossible for us in the 

 short space at our disposal to deal with 

 all the chapters of this interesting book 

 at the length which we have accorded 

 to the chapter on manuring. As regards 

 diseases, Hart enumerates eighteen 

 varieties of fungal disease, but he is not 

 quite up to date, as no mention is made 



