October i, 1891,3 THE TRDPIO^ ^^OTLTURIST, 239 
Ji'RUKING CACAO. 
The act of pruning is popularly supposed to cause 
the production of fruit. That groperly carried out, 
it has this effect, is not to be doubted, but the effect 
is not so direct as is often assumed. 
Given a young tree in good health, and with a 
single stem, the pruning should commence by the 
regulation of the ^j/?)/ia/-jes, or first branches made 
by the tree. There should, as a general rule, be only 
three, or at most four primary branches left on the 
cacao tree. These should be encouraged to extend 
themselves laterally, as they have a natural tendency 
to do, and should be encouraged to develope at regular 
distance the secondary branches. The tertiary bran- 
ches should also be encouraged to grow at regular 
intervals. 
In these stages the operation should be performed 
before the wood is sufliciently hard to require the 
use of the knife, by the method called ijinching, 
which is carried out with the thumb and linger, 
pinching off the young, succulent shoots that are not 
required. At all times it should be the endeavour 
of the pruner to maintain the tree well balanced, 
i,e. it should not have one branch growing more 
rapidly than another so as to make it appear lop- 
sided from any point of view. Many cultivators do 
not regard this point sufliciently in carrying out their 
pruning operations, and many branches are left, 
owing to their being bearing bnmchcs, which, for the 
permanent security of the tree, for its appearance 
and for its general bearing qualities, should be re- 
moved ; for it is much better to check at once the 
tendency of a tree to assume an irregular and un- 
cultivated form, than to allow a branch to grow 
for a time and finally be compelled to remove it 
when of a larger size. 
The pruning of a tree should be conducted with 
a view to the production of fruit. Unless we have 
a plentiful supply of good healthy leaves, evenly dis- 
tributed over the tree so as to obtain a maximum 
of the light and air they require, we cannot ex- 
pect to secure large crops of fruit, in fact unless 
the machinery is in good working order and the sup- 
ply of fuel abundant, we cannot expect a good outpu.t. 
The leaves and roots represent the machinery, and 
water, sunlight, air and manure, acting together, 
may well represent the fuel supplied. 
The branches of a cacao tree therefore, should be 
evenly distributed, so that the leaves they carry may 
be maintained in good health, and just thinly 
enough distributed to admit sufficient sun and air 
to mature the fruit. 
In pruning neglected trees, the first thing to do, is 
to cut out all useless wood, or wood which' can never 
be expected to bear, or to produce bearing branches. 
Next, to equalize or balance your tree, and last to 
thin out your branches, and fore-shorten them when 
required. 
in removing branches the greatest care should be 
exercised not to make jagged, ragged, splintering 
or slivering cuts, but to make clean and even cuts 
close to the wood and near to a bud or young branch 
into which the sap will be presently directed if the 
operation is well performed. 
The young branches which are often found grow- 
ing erect, (connnonly called gormandizers from the 
rapidity of their growth), are productions which show 
that the parent stem, as it stands, does not provide 
Buflioient channels for the expenditure of the sap 
supplied by the roots, and in consequence this sa.p 
provides -lor itself an outlet and expends itself upon 
the production of rapid growth in a single direction. 
It shows that the channels for the conveyance of 
sap are clogged or contracted, and that the amount 
of sap produced cannot pass into the more matured 
portion of the tree. It is also an effort of nature 
to recover itself from hard work. Every physiologist 
knows that unless branches are produced, roots can- 
not bo, and the production of root is in exact ratio 
to the production of branch. When however a tree 
18 bearing fairly in proportion to its size, it is better 
to keep down these branches, removing them as soon 
as they appear, aa it is certain that by affording free 
opemugs fo;- the aljagrptiga o£ the sap, they thg 
crop of the full amount of nourishment it should 
obtain, and the productive powers of the tree is 
Seriously affected. They should be removed however 
as they appear, and not be allowed to grow to a 
large size and then be removed, as that practice 
would be simply a waste of all the material used 
up in producing them, instead of diverting it to the 
production of fruit. In cases where a cacao tree 
has evidently become somewhat worn out or barren, 
{i.e.) its bearing wood shows evident signs of 
an unhealthy condition, it is better to make 
use of a "gormandizer" to supply anew bearing 
head to the tree and give it a new lease of life. 
By allowing one of these branches to grow from 
a suitable portion on the stem and treating it care- 
fully in a similar manner as we would a young plant, 
it is possible to rejuvenate and bring again into 
bearing trees from which, owing to their stunted 
and contracted character no produce could ever be 
expected. And it is really wonderful in what a short 
time the operation can be completed if skilfully 
carried out. After the young tree thus formed has 
assumed fair proportions the older wood should be 
carfully cut away from time, to time, but not at 
once, as heavy pruning is always a check to growth. 
If pruning is done .by a saw the wounds should 
afterwards be smoothed over with a sharp knife as 
they always heal over better if thus treated. In 
situations where the cacao beetle_ or beetles (for 
there are several species), are plentiful a mixture of 
coal tar and clay of the consistency of paint should 
be applied to all wounds. 
Pruning with a blunt cutlass, knife, or cacao hook, 
should never be allowed. The instruments used 
should be those only which are able to carry a keen 
edge, and pruners should always be supplied with 
the means of sharpening them without^ leaving the 
field. 
The time for pruning is much insisted upon in 
Trinidad as being influenced by the "moon." On 
this point I desire to remain passive, in a similar 
way as the big blacksmith did when he allowed his 
little wife to beat hini. As the tale goes — whea 
asked why he allowed it, "Why," said he, " it pleases 
her and it don't hurt me, so what matters?" "VVell 
if it i)leases the cacao planters to prune at a parti- 
cular time of the moon, by all means let them do 
so. It please them, and it does not hurt the 
trees, so it cannot matter. Mr. Morris, when writting 
on the same point, used the following words ; — 
" The Spaniards have a deeply-rooted prejudice 
against trimming cacao at full moon. They say it 
causes the tree to bleed and eventually to die. It 
is a well known and general axiom in horticulture 
that trees should not be pruned when sap is most 
active, but with regard to the particular instance 
of the cacao tree it is a question which only ex- 
perienced and intelligent cacao planters can determine. 
1 was myself led to look upon the prejudice, at first, 
as having some general grounds based upon long 
acquaintance with the habits of the cacao tree, but 
when I found Spanish settlers had equally strong 
prejudices against gathering pods for seed purposes, 
and putting out plants during the same period, I 
came to the conclusion that the subject was one 
which might very fairly be left for the present an 
open question. 1 may add that I saw in Trinidad, 
trees pruned on good estates at all phases of the 
moon, and no injurious effects had been noticed or 
anticipated." 
'Whether the moon has an influence on plant growth 
or not, I am in accord with Mr. Morris that the 
matter had better be left an open question ; not that 
I have any personal doubt upon the matter, but the 
question being one in which my opinion has little 
or no influence either way upon the progress of culti- 
vation; each individual may adhere to his own parti- 
cular practice without being at a disadvantage. 
Through a succession of nearly thirty years' practical 
experience, I have personally carried out a number 
of experiments bearing on the subject, in the course 
of wliioh I could not find that the moon's influence 
on plant life was other than completely ail. 
The season for pruning is however" a different 
mft((ei', but ca thi^ ^li?9 ppiui9ua Aiiei-, It how< 
