14 TlMEHRI, 
it takes too long before they become trees, it is prefera- 
ble to use suckers. This work done, a beginning is made 
with the cocoa. 
Cocoa is generally planted from 14 to 25 feet apart. 
I think 16 to 1 8 feet is best. Sometimes — at least in Dutch 
Guiana — the trees are planted about 7^ to 8 feet apart, 
and the alternate trees are cut when the plantation is 6 to 
7 years old. The upholders of this system say that they 
gain the crop, however small it may be, of 2 or 3 years, 
and that weeds are fewer owing to the closer plant- 
ing. It is better to put the trees in their proper place 
at once ; for if sufficient shade is provided, larger crops 
when the trees are full-grown will abundantly compensate 
for the extra weeding ; and the trees, having had plenty 
of room to grow, are healthy, well developed and strong. 
The distance at which to plant having been determined, 
patches two feet in diameter are ploughed and pulverized 
where the trees will stand ; the rows are lined 7 feet 
from the drains at each side of the 30 feet bed ; and the 
centre is so lined that the rows of plants intersect the two 
outside rows at regular distances, forming figures in the 
form of a rhombus. 
In this way, the trees have sufficient space to grow 
and develop. When planting is done from the nursery, 
a basket with a healthy plant is placed in the prepared 
spot. When seeds are planted, three small holes at the 
angles of a triangle are made in each of the ploughed cir- 
cles, and a bean put into each hole; 5 to 6 inches from 
every seed, a cassava stick, 2 feet long, is planted verti- 
cally. This is done to give shade, and to show 
exactly the place where a bean is planted, In the rainy 
