156 
THE TROPICAL 
AGPJCULTURIST. 
[Sept. 1, 1900. 
thia and poor, and accordingly iiseless, whilst the 
level lands at the bottom o£ larger valleys will be 
found very rich and capable of gi-owing excellent 
racao if properly drained. Any aspect will do, pro- 
vided the land is completely sheltered froni the 
nrevailia.^ easterly winds by belts of timber or by 
hii^her ridges. Land which is not thus protected is 
ntterW unfitted for cacao cultivation. 
2 'Leave all huslie^ on the rithjesfor 70 feet eaeh side. 
As the rid'^e-tops are a rule useless for the 
frrowth of cac'xo, it i^ better to leave the natural 
forest upon them, for tl)e following reasons 
n \ These belts of timber will prootect the cacao 
on the lower ground from the wind. 
(2 ) They will assist to preserve the necessary 
^Tsl^'They will annually shed large quantities of 
leaves upon the lower lands, which are useful as 
manure 01 mulching for the caoao. 
(4 \ During heavy rains, they will prevent the 
wxter from running off the hill sides in streams 
sufficiently large to wash away the best soil from 
the cacao' lands bslow. „ , . . , , 
3 Clear the land well, hununr/ alt the wood and 
on the sio-face, hut not ta heaps. 
Siich portions of the land as are intended for cacao 
=:hould be cleared of all vegetation. Some cultivators 
leave portions of the original forest standing for 
<5hade purposes, and meet with a good measure of 
Success As a general rule, however, it is better to 
clear the whole surface, for the f illovying reasons :- 
M ) The ti-ees left standing upon the ground will 
verv rarely be in proper lines, and therefore cmnot 
shade so perfectly as when regularly planted. 
(2 ) Such trees, having grown amongst a number 
of other high trees, will be tall and weak and there- 
fore easily blown down. 
(A) Trees left in this way will prevent the cacao 
being planted symmetrically, which is of great im- 
portance to its well-being. 
(41 Many of the foie^t trees are totally unsuitable 
for shade. Only the pod-bearing or leguminous kiiida 
should in any case be left. Others will take from 
the cacao the nourishment it should obtain from 
the soil, and starve it to death for want of food 
^"if th^JpUnter can afford it, it is bsttei- that the 
whole surface of the ground should be thoroirghly 
well turned over and exposed to the atmosphere, 
la order that the soil may be sweetened. Tne land 
ao cultivated can be brought into use for growth oE 
*°]^urnin^^'the timber in heaps is a bad method, 
because by so doing, owing to the fiarceuess of the 
fire the wood is reduced to ashes instead of remaining 
in the more useful form of charcoal 
4 Marl out the ground m parallel rows U to lo 
fedamrt and at the same distance apart place, along 
these row , stales so arranged that those of one row 
alternate with those of the next. 
If the lands is rich, 15 feet is a good distance, 
if poor, 12 feet would be more suitable. 
Make the rows perfectly straight, and parallel with 
the boundary lines; the plauts should be put at 
enual distances from each other in ever,/ direction 
Tiees planted too close together will choke each 
nther whilst, on the other hand, if planted too far 
apart; they will fail to give the req -i.ite support 
aud shade to one another. Again, when the trees 
are planted in regular rows, it is easier to walk 
through the field and give attention to the plants 
^ 5!^° I'm™ "fe .w'Mo the depth of one foot, Jor three 
feet around each stake. , . , 
This is best done with the pick axe some months 
before planting. L«t the earth be thoroughly turned 
unside down, and afterwards mixed with good surf ice 
Boil leaf mould, or well rotted manure if avaiiable. 
(i I'tant permanent shade trees m exch third hole, 
fif each third row. , , , i , • i, 1 
Thpreare several kinds of shade which may be 
UHod 'but probably 'the most eifectual and useful 
ar« the two " Iramortellos " and the " Saman." The 
" Immortelles, " is almost exclusively used ia Trinidad- 
The great object of the permanent shade trees is 
to temper the heat of the sun, by keeping its rays 
off the cacao during nart of the day. If shade trees 
are planted at every "third hole when 12 feet apart, 
they should aho be put at every third hole when 
15 feet is the distance adopted, as the quality of 
the land will regulate the growth of the shade trees, 
as well as of the cacao. 
Shade trees should nev.-^r be planted too c'osely, 
as caoao must have sufficient light, or it cannot 
bear good crop?. If a shade tree is too close to 
one cacao tree, it must be too far away from others, 
and the latter will accordingly sutt'e,'; from having 
too little shade. 
A common objection to the plan of using a caoao 
hole for the shade tree is, that one cacao tree oat 
of every nine is lost. This is perfectly true, but if 
a cacao planter is un billing to make this sacrifice, 
ho will undoubtedly lose more than one-ninth of 
his crop, for the nine impi.op3ily shaded trees will 
yield less than the eight well shaded ones. 
7. Plant cacao dining the moist weather of June 
or Juhj, 
There are two ways of planting. Yon can plant 
cacao seeds on the spot where the tree is to perma- 
nently remain, this is called "planting at st.-ike ; " 
or you can plant the seeds in bamboo joints or in 
seed beds, in nurseritrs, and afterwards transplant 
to the permanent position. The latter operation 
should be very carefully performed, the greatest care 
being taken not to place the plants too deep in 
the ground, as more deaths of young plants arise 
from this canse than from any other. The seed 
when planted should be placed at a depth equal to 
its own thickness, below the surface. 
During the moist weather which usually occurs in 
June and July is a good season for planting, because 
at this time the rains usually commence to fall 
regularly and generally last to the end of the year. 
Plants can better endure the dry season which 
usually extends from February to April or Miy, if 
planted at the time indicated. Planting at stake 
causes an increased expenditure on supervision, as 
.a larger area of ground has to be regularly attended 
to than is the case when the plants are rai.sed in 
nurseries. The seed sown should be selected from 
trees in good health and which are known to bear 
regular crops of first class cacao. All other seed is 
comparatively worthless. 
S. Plant bananas at 6 to feet from every cacao 
tree (see section 4) and tannias between the bananas. 
This means that half w ly between every two cacao 
trees there is to be a banana, and half w iy between 
every banana and cacao tree, tliere is to be a tauiiia. 
These plants will aff jrd the necesseiry shade and 
protection to the young cacao, and the value of the 
crop will repry a large portion of the cost of growing 
the cacao trees. Should there be no means of 
getting ground provisions to market, the produce 
may be used for feeding pigs. 
As soon as the permanent shade is sufficiently 
grown all the small sh ide shouH be removed and 
the plantation cleaned thcoughout. In no case 
should further mixed cultivation be continued. — /"m- 
perial Department of Agriculture of the West Indies. 
(To be concluded ) 
TiiR Plant Doctor. — The Royal Horticultural 
Society seems rolling in wealth, or very anxious to 
spend what it has — a correspondent says he knows an 
opening, viz., to provide the sinews for war to some 
plant-disease man, and send him to see on the spot 
whit disease really loDks like. The postal box is 
apt to mislead. We certainly think the time has 
arrived when the Royal Horticultural Society, or 
s )meone, should give an adequate s ilary to a com- 
petent plant doctor whose whole time should be devoted 
to the work. We are only editors, and have no 
time for the necessary research and cultivation, but 
we are swamped with enquiries and specimens.— ^ 
Gardeners' Chronicle, 
