Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

CULTIVATION OF THE CACAO BEAN 43 exceptional. There is a general consensus of opinion that “ mulching ” is highly beneficial, particularly if it is preceded by forking. To obtain a mulch, the weeds are cut, heaped, and allowed to rot, and then mixed with dried grass and leaves. The effect of a layer of this is to keep the soil in a moist, porous con-dition. It also has value as a manure. According to the West Indian Bulletin, Vol. 10, No. 2, the grass from one acre of cacao plantation contains— Nitrogen ..... 70-8 Ibs. Phosphorite acid . . .21-1 Ibs. Potash ..... 94-8 Ibs. At the beginning of the dry season the mulch is spread about 6 ins. deep, over a circle 6 ft. in diameter, round each tree, care being taken not to place it in contact with the stem. It is dug into the earth at the beginning of the wet season. In certain countries, Grenada and Ceylon for examples, applications of pen or farmyard manure are made. This is a costly process, but so valuable is it, that it is to be regretted that all planters cannot either run a stock and grazing farm or else have their plantation in close proximity to one. In those rare cases where a planter desires to use artificial manure he can generally save himself expense by Consulting the local Agricultural Department, who usually have experience garnered from the use of manures on experimental plots. Basic slag has been found particularly good for soils requiring lime, but no simple rules can be drawn up, and an intimate know-ledge of the soil is required to determine the correct mixture of artificial manures to use. Pruning. In the early years, as with English fruit trees, pruning is devoted mainly to getting the correct