The Cultivation of Cocoa. 15 
season these cassava plants are pruned, the stem only 
being left to sprout when the dry season is at hand. 
The cassava is cut level with the ground when the cocoa 
is so large as to need all the ground. Some planters 
harvest the cassava, but experience teaches that this in- 
jures the tender roots of the cocoa and kills the plant. 
Seeds which do not germinate must be replaced ; so that 
fields must be provided with seed beds. It is best to 
have one or two seed beds at each side of the field 
and in the centre, for then the plants are close at hand 
when wanted, and much time and expense is saved. The 
seed beds selected, the beans are put into holes made with 
a hoe at a distance of 2 to 2^ feet apart between the 
plaintain and the permanent cocoa trees. It is always 
better to have seed beds, even in fields where the cocoa 
is fully grown. The young plants thrive very well in 
their shade. 
Whenever a cocoa tree dies, a young plant must be 
put in its place during the rainy season. Many plan- 
ters prefer always to set the seed in small baskets or in 
joints of bamboo ; but this, of course, adds somewhat 
to the cost. 
The trying period for the young cocoa is between the 
second and fourth years, when if there is not sufficient 
shade, many are killed by droughts. It is then that the 
importance of having a sufficient quantity of young 
plants close at hand to supply the field is seen. 
When the plantation is established the planter has 
only to keep his fields in order to be sure of success. 
No profit is to be expected during the first five years, 
though there are examples of planters having made a 
