Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

48 THE COCOA AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY put up as good a fight as those in Surinam remains to be seen. That the more advanced planters are alive to the dangers they run, is illustrated by the approval of the Trinidad planters of the action of the Trinidad Board of Agriculture, which, in 1921, decided not to attempt the experiment of importing Ecuador (Guayaquil) cacao seeds for growing on a large scale. This experiment was interesting and might have proved profitable, but it was vetoed because of the risk that the imported beans might bring in new diseases. Each disease requires its appropriate cultural treat-ment, and it is agreed that it is better to prevent their -occurence by sound cultural methods, than to attempt their eure by such methods as spraying, pruning, etc. Spraying, on account of its cost, is not a common practice. Copper salts are the fungicides most fre-quently tried; thus for Phytophthera faberi the spray used is Bordeaux mixture. One gallon of this is required to spray each tree, and Mr. J. B. Rorer stated in 1911 that the labour and Chemicals cost 10 dollars per 1,000 trees, or about one halfpenny per tree. The spraying must be repeated at intervals to obtain material improvement. (b) Pests. Besides the diseases due to fungi, there is another large group due to insects. The following are' examples of some of the common pests—■ INSECT PESTS OF THE CACAO TREE Name of Insect. Populär Name. Part Attacked. Scapteriscus didactylus Steirastoma depressum, etc. Heliopeltis Physopus rubrocincta Mole cricket Borer beetles Heliopeltis bugs Thrips The root and stems of young plants The stem The twigs and pods The leaves and pods i 3?