Part 3 (2/2)

Professor Carmody, in reporting[2] recently on the result of a four years' experiment with (1) shade, (2) no shade, (3) partial shade, says that so far partial shade has given the best results. No general solution has yet been found to the question of the advantage of shade, and, as Shaw states for morality, so in agriculture, ”the golden rule is that there is no golden rule.” Not only is there the personal factor, but nature provides an infinite variety of environments, and the best results are obtained by the use of methods appropriate to the local conditions.

[2] _Bulletin_ Dept. of Agriculture, Trinidad, 1916.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CACAO TREES, SHADED BY KAPOK (_Eriodendron Anfractuosum_) IN JAVA.

(reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CACAO TREES, SHADED BY BOIS IMMORTEL, TRINIDAD.]

_Form of Tree-growth Desired: Suckers._

Viscount Mountmorres, in a delightfully clear exposition of cacao cultivation which he gave to the native farmers and chiefs of the Gold Coast in 1906, said: ”In pruning, it is necessary always to bear in mind that the best shape for cacao trees is that of an enlarged open umbrella,” with a height under the umbrella not exceeding seven feet.

With this ideal in his mind, the planter should train up the tree in the way it should go. Viscount Mountmorres also said that everything that grows upwards, except the main stem, must be cut off.

This opens a question which is of great interest to planters as to whether it is wise to allow shoots to grow out from the main trunk near the ground. Some hold that the high yield on their plantation is due to letting these upright shoots grow. ”Mi Amigo Corsicano said: 'Diavolo, let the cacao-trees grow, let them branch off like any other fruit-tree, say the tamarind, the 'chupon' or sucker will in time bear more than its mother.'”[3] There seems to be some evidence that _old_ trees profit from the ”chupons” because they continue to bear when the old trunk is weary, but this is compensated for by the fact that the ”chupons”

(Portuguese for suckers) were grown at the expense of the tree in its youth. Hence other planters call them ”thieves,” and ”gormandizers,”

saying that they suck the sap from the tree, turning all to wood. They follow the advice given as early as 1730 by the author of _The Natural History of Chocolate_, when he says: ”Cut or lop off the suckers.” In Trinidad, experiments have been started, and after a five years' test, Professor Carmody says that the indications are that it is a matter of indifference whether ”chupons” are allowed to grow or not.

[3] ”_How Jose formed his Cocoa Estate._”

[Ill.u.s.tration: CACAO TREE, WITH SUCKERS, TRINIDAD.]

After hunting, agriculture is man's oldest industry, and improvements come but slowly, for the proving of a theory often requires work on a huge scale carried out for several decades. The husbandry of the earth goes on from century to century with little change, and the methods followed are the winnowings of experience, tempered with indolence. And even with the bewildering progress of science in other directions, sound improvements in this field are rare discoveries. There is great scope for the application of physical and chemical knowledge to the production of the raw materials of the tropics. In one or two instances notable advances have been made, thus the direct production of a white sugar (as now practised at Java) at the tropical factory will have far-reaching effects, but with many tropical products the methods practised are as ancient as they are haphazard. Like all methods founded on long experience, they suit the environment and the temperament of the people who use them, so that the work of the scientist in introducing improvements requires intimate knowledge of the conditions if his suggestions are to be adopted. The various Departments of Agriculture are doing splendid pioneer work, but the full harvest of their sowing will not be reaped until the number of tropically-educated agriculturists has been increased by the founding of three or four agricultural colleges and research laboratories in equatorial regions.

There is much research to be done. As yet, however, many planters are ignorant of all that is already established, the facilities for education in tropical agriculture being few and far between. There are signs, however, of development in this direction. It is pleasant to note that a start was made in Ceylon at the end of 1917 by opening an agricultural school at Peradenija. Trinidad has for a number of years had an agricultural school, and is eager to have a college devoted to agriculture. In 1919, Messrs. Cadbury Bros. gave 5000 to form the nucleus of a special educational fund for the Gold Coast. The scientists attached to the several government agricultural departments in Java, Ceylon, Trinidad, the Philippines, Africa, etc., have done splendid work, but it is desirable that the number of workers should be increased. When the world wakes up to the importance of tropical produce, agricultural colleges will be scattered about the tropics, so that every would-be planter can learn his subject on the spot.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CUTLa.s.sING.]

_Diseases of the Cacao Tree._

Take, for example, the case of the diseases of plants. Everyone who takes an interest in the garden knows how destructive the insect pests and vegetable parasites can be. In the tropics their power for destruction is very great, and they are a constant menace to economic products like cacao. The importance of understanding their habits, and of studying methods of keeping them in check, is readily appreciated; the planter may be ruined by lacking this knowledge.

The cacao tree has been improved and ”domesticated” to satisfy human requirements, a process which has rendered it weaker to resist attacks from pests and parasites. It is usual to cla.s.sify man amongst the pests, as either from ignorance or by careless handling he can do the tree much harm. Other animal pests are the wanton thieves: monkeys, squirrels and rats, who destroy more fruit than they consume. The insect pests include varieties of beetles, thrips, aphides, scale insects and ants, whilst fungi are the cause of the ”Canker” in the stem and branches, the ”Witch-broom” disease in twigs and leaves, and the ”Black Rot” of pods.

The subject is too immense to be summarised in a few lines, and I recommend readers who wish to know more of this or other division of the science of cacao cultivation, to consult one or more of the four cla.s.sics in English on this subject:

_Cocoa_, by Herbert Wright (Ceylon), 1907.

_Cacao_, by J. Hinchley Hart (Trinidad), 1911.

_Cocoa_, by W.H. Johnson (Nigeria), 1912.

_Cocoa_, by C.J.J. van Hall (Java), 1914.

CHAPTER III

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