THE FUTURE OF CACAO PLANTING. 



207 



itself is moderate and things go on right merrily ; but after a time the 

 crop commences to diminish, then it is usually the shade tree which is 

 blamed, and the owner often begins to contemplate the removal of that 

 shade tree entirely, and looks around for something else as a substitute, 

 unmindful of the fact that all trees have old age as well as youth. The 

 merits of various trees as fertilizing agents as well as shade trees have 

 been discussed too well for me to attempt to add anything to it, but too 

 much attention cannot be paid to the prevention of overcrowding by shade 

 trees, as this is, in my opinion, a frequent cause of fungoid pests on both 

 pods and branches, while the exclusion of light has a tendency to cause the 

 trees to very largely diminish their output of flowers, and also encourage 

 the growth of lichens, moss, &c, on the stems. ' Too much attention 

 cannot be paid to wind-breaks, although the necessity for these will have 

 been largely avoided if care and forethought have been used in selecting 

 the proper aspect for the cacao plantation. Among the hills in Jamaica 

 cacao planted on the western slopes luxuriates and bears splendid crops, 

 while on the eastern slopes, often only a few yards away, it is next to 

 impossible to get a tree to grow at all. 



With regard to the question asked by the lecturer on pruning, I always 

 divide this into two headings. First, the pruning of young trees or trees 

 which have been properly pruned from the time of planting ; and trees 

 which have been neglected for several years and allowed to get into a mess, 

 of which, unfortunately, in Jamaica we have too many. There is no 

 question but that properly pruned trees are far more profitable than those 

 which are allowed to grow wild, for while it is quite true that wild or 

 unpruned trees may be found bearing enormous crops, it is also quite true 

 that, taking the average bearing of a large number of properly cared-for 

 trees, they will be found to give far better returns than can be obtiined 

 from unpruned trees. 



The question of tools for the properly pruned trees is easily yolved, as 

 an efficient pruner would know at a glance what branches to remove 

 before they are much bigger than an ordinary wheat straw. All such 

 could, of course, be removed with an ordinary sharp pocket knife, no anti- 

 septics, tar, grease, or paint being required. When it comes to disciplining 

 the old unpruned trees, then the sharpest of saws, shears, and knives should 

 be employed and I am also a strong advocate for a really good sharp 

 cutlass, especially when this is in the hand of a black man, whose efficiency 

 with this implement has to be seen to be understood. In many cases he 

 can do very much better work with this than can be done with the best of 

 saws, which latter, unless they are kept well sharpened and well greased, 

 do much more harm in shaking the tree than is done by the sharp cutlass. 

 When removing old branches the greatest care should be taken to pare the 

 edge of the cut, the bark, and cambium perfectly smooth, all cuts, of course, 

 being made in a slanting direction. 



Mr. Geo. S. Hudson, of Errard Estate, St. Lucia, in commenting 

 on leguminous catch crops amongst cacao, said that in practical West 

 Indian cacao-planting circles the pigeon-pea (Caja?ius indicus) has hitherto 

 proved the only successful leguminous plant, and that too only on the 

 lighter soils and in the second, third, and fourth years of the cacao plant 

 life. On heavy clay this plant develops few bacterial nodules, and on all 



