.1 or RNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



tunately. no use having been discovered for the banana stem, the fibre 

 even not being worth extracting owing to the cost of transport and the 

 high price of labour in Costa Rica, it is a vexed question what to do with 

 the banana steins on a cacao estate. Will it be advisable to leave them 

 rotting on the ground ? Would that not be inclined to spread disease 

 and pests ? 



I'nder such circumstances I should like the lecturer to answer the 

 following queries : 



1. Do you recommend the interplanting of cacao and bananas ? 



2. If so, at what distance apart should they be planted to avoid over- 

 crowding and over-exhaustion to the soil ? 



St. Up to what age can the bananas be left with the cacao without 

 exhausting it too much ? 



4. Up to what age can the bananas be relied upon to effectually shade 

 the cacao ? 



5. Can the bananas be relied upon to act as a wind-break ? 



6. Do they supply any nitrogenous food to the soil ? 



7. As a wind-break, in case of hurricanes with a chance of damage to 

 the bananas, would not leaving a space of, say, 18 feet prevent any serious 

 damage to the cacao trees ? 



Mr. A. N. Dixon (Jamaica) stated that he intends to keep to Forastero 

 cacao, and so did not feel able to give any practical suggestions on 

 grafting or budding. With regard to shade trees, he found from ex- 

 perience that, on certain ridges, failure attended every effort to establish 

 the young cacao trees until after the " Quango " (Saman tree) * had 

 grown up and shaded the ground. 



Mr. A. E. Evans, of the Agricultural Department, Aburi, Gold Coast, 

 said : I am strongly in favour of belts of various economic trees to 

 divide up estates, especially where there are large areas of only one 

 product under cultivation. In the first place, belts greatly tend to 

 minimize the spread of fungus and insect pests, and secondly, they act as 

 wind-belts (a very necessary item in cacao cultivation). At the same 

 time, the trees for forming these belts should be selected with care ; those 

 which can be planted close together should have the preference. The 

 belts should be at least 100 feet wide, and for the Gold Coast I have 

 always advised planting the native rubber tree (Funtumia elastica) as it 

 is practically free from disease, and can be planted very close together. 

 It gives a good revenue within seven years from the time of planting. 



1 do not agree with the lecturer in the matter of interplanting cacao 

 and rubber, and I always advise the planting of these two products 

 together. Cacao considerably helps to decrease the expenditure of the 

 upkeep of a rubber estate, and the two crops can easily be grown together 

 for at least twelve years. You would thus get seven years' revenue out 



* The Puoaatree [Piiheoolobium Saman), known in Jamaica as the "Guango," 

 1 :il n recommended by Hart as a shade tree on estates. 0. P. Cook, in his Shade 

 on Coffm Culture (Bulletin No. 25, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1901), devotes 

 '•y M :i ;1 much lajrgei space than he gives to any of the three hundred and more 



DMfl freei mentioned by him. in commenting on pros and cons of the Saman as 

 1 bade tree. Planted in Jamaica, however, were much surprised and disappointed 

 al khaeeJU manaex In which the Saman tree broke down during the hurricane of 

 lif03 ; the Erythrinn withstood the wind much better. 



