THE FUTURE OF CACAO PLANTING. 



205 



regards shade, I consider that it is not required in Jamaica for mature 

 trees, and probably not anywhere, so long as the ground is shaded. But 

 shelter belts are always necessary, and these should be planted at right 

 angles to the direction of the prevailing winds at regular intervals. 



At the Agricultural Conference held in Trinidad in January 1905, 

 I ventured to call the attention of cacao planters there to the importance 

 of trying experiments in starting estates with only the shade of the 

 banana, as in Jamaica, and ascertaining whether, as I believed, cacao 

 trees would not bear heavier crops, and be less liable to disease, if 

 they were grown without permanent shade. Planting in quincunx 

 fashion is not feasible if bananas are planted for shade during the first 

 four or five years, nor later, if the cultivator is used. 



Mr. W. Cradwick (Agricultural Instructor, Jamaica), in the course of 

 his remarks, stated : There are so many points raised in Mr. Hamel 

 Smith's lecture that it is impossible in a discussion like this to touch on 

 more than one or two. An afternoon might easily be spent in discussing 

 manures, budding and grafting, the correlation of colour and weight, the 

 question of the yield of the various varieties, the effect of fermentation on 

 the different varieties, as well as the question of the net cash results of 

 growing the different varieties, and the different methods of fermentation, 

 drying, &c, pruning, shading, tools, distances of planting, plans of 

 planting, inter-planting, the treatment of " diseases." The question 

 of budding and grafting is a very fascinating one, the possible ideal 

 of a plantation of strong-growing Forastero or Galabacillo, bearing the 

 finest Criollo beans, uniform in colour, size, and weight, must be to every 

 thinking man something worth struggling for. The method of obtaining 

 this ideal will probably vary under different circumstances ; but, except 

 when no other method is possible, the slow and clumsy one of in-arching 

 will surely be discarded, if only on account of expense. Given good 

 strong seedling stocks, of whatever variety has proved to be the most 

 robust for the land which it is proposed to plant, good buds from pure 

 Criollo stocks, the question of budding even large areas should not be 

 a difficult one. I have given demonstrations in budding cacao among the 

 small settlers in Jamaica, and I do not think I have ever had a bud fail, 

 except from accidents ; and where my small settler friends have taken it 

 up they, too, although in many cases previously totally ignorant of the 

 art of budding, have been uniformly successful.' 



The question of transforming old plantations of mixed varieties into 

 a uniform variety is a good deal more difficult ; the trees, if very old 

 when cut down, often start to grow vigorously for a time, but the check 

 occasioned by cutting down large trees seems to be in many cases too 

 severe for them, and the glorious promise held out by the vigorous start 

 is often not maintained. In cases, however, where the old trees have 

 made gormandizers which have been budded, and the buds allowed to 

 grow to a considerable size before the removal of the old tree, greater 

 success has been obtained. 



Jamaica would probably have a chance for the establishing of fields 

 of budded cacao over any of the West Indian Islands. I take it for 

 granted that we have all the varieties included in the collective name of 

 Forastero, as well as what are laid down by Mr. Hart and other authorities 



