242 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
rOcT. 1, 1899. 
to be preferred, at all events at present, to large 
oues as in tlic former personal supervision can 
be given, and the initial and viorking expenses 
are of coui-se a mere fraction of what a large 
plantation would entail. 
A small plantation of 6 acres holds about l,20o 
trees, and these in the third year produce about 
140,03) pofs, audit is apparent that, even with the 
liberal allowance of 1.5 pods to the pound of 
marketable Ijean, each tree would produce from 6 
to 8 poinds of prepared cocoa bean per annum. 
The ireas begin paying in the third and fourth 
years after planting, and are in full yield after 
the fifth. Apparently there is practically no age 
limit to the bearing of a cocoa tree. The two 
heaviest cuttings are in April and September, and 
between times there are cuttings about evei-y three 
weeks. The full grown pods, the immature one, 
and the blossom may all be seen on the same tree. 
The best and cheapest way of preparing bush 
land for cocoa growing is to thin out the under- 
growth but to leave the trees standing so as to 
afford shade to the young plant. The cost of 
clearing and planting ought not to exceed £4 per 
acre. The young plants are raised in small coco- 
nut baskets fllled with earth in well shaded nur- 
series and planted out ; or the seeds are planted 
in holes well covered with topsoil, 15 by 15 apart, 
and when the cocoa trees have attained two years' 
growth, banana trees are ijlanted between the 
rows of cocoa, the shade trees are ring-barked, 
and when dead are felled and allowed to rot in 
situ. It is surprising to see how very little 
damage— in fact practically none — is done to the 
plantation by the fall of these trees. 
The cocoa tree seems to be able to bear an ex- 
traordinary amount of rough usage in Samoa. 
When the trees are about three years old the 
banana trees are cut down and rooted up. The 
tree with a single trunk is not considered desira- 
h\e in Samoa, anil by allowing two or three main 
stems to grow and training the laterals to branch 
out well a comparatively low bush is obtained, 
which does not attain the height to which the 
cocoa tree is allowed to grow elsewhere, and 
consequently is not so niucla damaged by hurri- 
canes, and produces a larger crop of pods than the 
other variety. 
The kinds of cocoa planted in Samoa were 
Caracas and Forastero, but as usually happens 
by hybridization, a distinct kind has been pro- 
duceii, partaking of the best qualities of each 
variety. The Samoan cocoa is prepared in the 
Ceylon manner and is especially well adapted for 
confectionery purposes. 
It is advisable not to prune the trees, as this 
entails stunting them in Samoa. In fact the 
golden rule for would-be planters in Samoa is not 
to follow any rule blindly, I-.owever well estab- 
lished, but to adapt the general rules of cocoa 
planting to the special factors out here, and not 
to try and make Samoan nature follow scientific 
rulesj but vice versa. The cost of land near Apia 
is about from £1 10s to £3 per acre if purchased 
from whites, and about 4s to 8s per acre if leased 
from the natives on a 20 or 40 years' lease. The 
soil is rocky and volcanic, and well adapted for 
cocoa. 
Although labor in large masses is practically 
unobtainable in these islands and the native 
Samoan is by no means an energetic and hard- 
working laborer, yet sufficient floating labor for 
small plantations is to be had. The price is 
about 21:S to 35s a month per laborer, his food 
costing about 10s ner head a month. One man 
ought to be able to look after six acres of well 
grown cocoa in the dry season, but two are re- 
quired during the wet season from December to 
fn ' Samoa the cocoa is a robust, hardy tree, 
prowiii':? luxuriantly, and yielding abundant crops 
V'ith bill trUH'iK cultivation, ■ Cultivator. 
HYBRIDISATION. 
In connection with an International Conference 
of Hybridisation held under the auspices of the 
Eoyai Horticultural Society during tlie past two 
days a dinner was held last evening in the White- 
hall Rooms, Hotel Metropole. Sir T. Lawrence, 
President of the Society, was in the chair, and 
the company included the Netherlands Minister, 
the Belgian Minister, Earl Anncsley, the ilaster 
of the Bolls, Sir E. Fry, Mr. Herbert .J. Webber, 
and the Rev. W. Wilkes (the Secretary). The 
tables were beautifully decorated with roses, 
carnations, orchids, and other flowers, the gifts 
of members or the Society, wlio also presented 
the fruit for dessert. The toast of " Horticulture " 
was proposed by the Rev. Professor Henslow, 
and acknowledged by Mr. H. .7. Webber (United 
States), Professor H. de Vries (Holland), and M. 
H. de Vilmorin (France). Mr. Webber remarked 
that the possibilities of hybridisation had hitherto 
been little realised, and the few examples wliich 
had been brought to notice were simply lierjvlds 
of the ad \'ances that "svere likely to be made in 
the future. He thought it a matter for regret 
that there was no way in which the originator 
of a new fruit or a new flower might derive due 
beneflt from his labours. Every endeavour ouglit 
to be made to popularise hotticulture, so that 
any discoveries that wei-e made by hybridists 
might meet with their just recompense. Mr. W. 
Bateson, in giving the toast of " Hybridists, " 
insisted on the importance of bringing about a 
permanent investigation in this counlri* of the 
problems of hybridisation, such as was now be- 
ing conducted in the United States. (Applause.) 
Mr. W. T. Swingler (Washington) replied. The 
Master of the Rolls proposed " The Royal Hor- 
ticultui-al Society," and Sir Trevor Lawrence, in 
responding, observed that it was owing to the 
fact that Robert Fortune was sent out by the 
Royal Horticultural Society to China that the 
cultivation of tea was undertaken in India, and 
ultimately spread to Ceylon, and that now the bulk 
of the tea consumed in Western countries come 
not from China, but from the country into 'which 
Fortune introduced it. The Society now numbered 
nearly five thousav.d Fellows, arid, though not 
wealthy, was in fair water. It needed, however, 
two things, which he hoped would soon be forth- 
coming, namely, a hall in London and a now gar- 
den larger than that at Chiswick, and not so near 
London. (Applause.) Other toasts followed.— 
Morning Post, July 13. 
ME. JACKSON'S NEVv TEA MACH NEKY. 
Hitherto it has been impossible, even under most 
careful factory management, to prevent dust, 
powder and foreign matter, such as liair-like 
splints of bamboo and Hbre from green leaf jute 
liessian withering tats, being mixed with the tea in 
packing. FroTn careful experiments, made with 
various grades of lea of their appearance, the 
amount of foreign matter contained in them 
varied from ^ per cent to 2| per cent. To 
obviate this a new 
PATENT TEA DUST EXTRACTOR, 
for use in tea factories, warehouses, and 
packing rooms has been designed by Mr. Jackson. 
By a series of simple adjustments, the machine 
can be made to remove only powder, or light 
fibrous matter; or all the dust niay he removed, 
and the residue tlioronglily mixed ; or tlie dnst 
may be extracted, and the residue divided iato 
two grades, medium and large. The design of 
the machine is such that a fluted feeding roller 
in hopper regulates the supply of tea, so as to 
spread it into a thin stream, four feet wide. 
Jt passes down a series of steps, arranged ia g, 
