288 
[Oct. 1, 1897. 
Supplement to the ^‘Tropical Agriculturist." 
circiirnstniices, vefiise to depart one bait s breath 
from their teaching. This ■would be as bad as the 
case of the enthusiastic no'vice ■wlio sallied into 
the field aimed with a tome which he ever con- 
sulted before issuing instructions to labourers, 
regardless of the character of soil, lainfall, and 
‘other modifying conditions. 
Many of our readers may have seen the text- 
book on Troincul Aunmltnre by Dr. Kicholls, a 
work which the Jamaica Government considered 
to be the best of those which were wiitten in com- 
petition for a premium offered by it. In the end 
the work was published by the Government of 
Jamaica, it received the imprimatur of so high 
an authority as Dr. Morris, and was highly com- 
mended by the West Indian press. Dr. INTcholl.s 
Btates that his hope— expressed in his Preface to 
the first edition — that the book will prove 
serviceable to peasant propi ietors, owners of estates, 
and intending settlers in trojiical countiies, is 
likely to be realized, while the fact that his 
work is being used in the colleges and higher 
schools in the West Indies is further testimony 
to the value which is attached to it. Dr. ^‘icholls 
himself accounts tor the success of his Tropical 
yformwZfwe by stating that it “is due probably 
to the fact that it is not a mere compilation 
but the record of experience that has been gained by 
study, observation and experimental cultivation. 
So that it would appear that all West Indian 
authorities (including the good doctor himselOhave 
accepted the book referred to as a standard work 
on the subject of which it treats. 
Now the West Indies, wheie Dr. Nicholls has 
gained all his agricultural training and experience, 
is the home of cacao, and therefore may we expect 
to have sound advice as to the method.s involved 
in the cultivation of the plant. We are, however, 
at pi esent only concerned with the treatment of 
Supers, and 'will tlierefoie quote from Tropical 
Anriculture on this ]ioint. 
'in his chapter on Pruning, Dr. Nicholls thus 
refers to the treatment of suckers, no doubt 
speaking generally: “In all cases, however, suckers 
or robber stems, as they are called, must be re- 
moved from trees or bushes grown for their crops, 
as suckers rob the plant of much of the sap 
or food necessary for the growth of the flowers 
or fruit.” . . 
But acraiii writing under Pruning— but referring 
specially to cocoa— he says ; “ The cacao planter 
will have to give careful attention to the prun- 
ing of the trees if he wishes to get large crops. 
As the pods are borne on the larger branches the 
principle is to develope such branches by judicious 
pruning and to see that they are not covered up by 
a mass of foliage and small twigs. A typical cacao 
tree should have one stem giving off at a few 
feet from the ground three to five branches which 
spread in an open manner and are free from leaves 
except at the tops— thus the leaves shade the open 
interior portion without iiite’fering with a tree 
circulation of air. If the young plants throw 
out more than one main simn, the surplus 
ones mu^t be ].runed off ; and after the lateral 
branches are formed, no upward prolongation 
of the stem must he allowed to grow. If the 
tree be left alone, these upward branches will 
Cime off from the stem just below the laterals 
in the form of suckers, and to leave them on is 
to cause the strength to be taken off from these 
fruitful laterals as iv'eU as to allow the tree to 
run up, perhaps, for thirty feet or more, thereby 
causing much trouble in picking the pods. When 
the suckers are pruned off fresh ones will grow 
after a short time, so that the tree.s will require 
frequent attention until they are mature, when 
the tendency to throw out suckers will be 
stop]ied. 
Among cocoa planters in Ce's lon there may be 
said to have been two .schooh:, — those who believed 
in xjruuing, and iiarticularly suckering, and those 
who did not. The merits of the system of culture 
which each school practised were sought to be 
gauged by the bulk of crop which resulted in each 
case, and it is still xjerhaps a debateable point 
which gave the larger x>roduce. But of late there 
has been a new and uuexi;ected solution to the 
differences of oijinion as regards the treatment of 
suckeJS, worked out by the unfortunate malady, 
affecting cacao trees in certan districts, called hy 
experts “ the cacao canker.” IVe will not weary 
our readers by summarising the large mass of cor- 
respondence on the subject of this disease in cacao 
and its relation to the treatment of the suckers on 
the trees, but suffice it to .say that the tendency 
on the x>art of those who had studied the subject 
and took i>art in the discussion lias been to 
condemn such a mode of treatment as that which 
Dr. Nicholls advices in his Tropical A//ricvltnre 
from w’hich 'we have quoted. We do not believe 
that any one who has been moving about, the 
cacao districts and comparing the condition of the 
two types of estates reiu’esenting the two schools 
of cacao xilanters, ■will xiersist in the treat- 
ment W’hich favours imining and suckering’ 
The question which remains to be solved i.s “what 
reason can be assigned for the failure in 
Ceylon of a system of treatment which is con- 
sidered to suit the cocoa jjlant in the West Indies”^ 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
We have to acknowledge with thanks receipt 
of the first two Circulars or Bulletins issued by 
the Director of the Eoyal Botanic Gardens, Fera- 
deniya, and w’e have no doubt, to judge from the 
character of these two, that the Circulars will 
])rove of inestimable value to all who are in- 
terested directly or indirectly in the cultural 
industries of the Colony. 
IVe are glad to be able to state that through a 
kind concession granted by the General Manager 
of Eailways it will be possible for the students 
of the School of Agriculture to be taken on 
periodical tours in connection with their work. 
In India the occurrence of serious or epidemic 
disease among cattle has to be reported direct, and 
if necessary by telegram to the Veteriu.'iry De- 
partment. This is a plan that should be followed 
in Ceylon, as in many cases outbreaks of cattle 
murrain are found to have died out before the 
arrival of veterinary aid. 
Mr. J. F. Bailey writing about the Fapaw 
( Carica papaya) gives some interesting informa- 
tion about this familiar tropical fruit, in the 
last Queensland Agricultural Journal. The 
generic name is said to have been given to it 
