and their Trunks running up too high,
will be weak, slender, and more exposed to the Winds. If they should be
crowned, their Crowns will be too close; and the chief Branches not
opening themselves enough, the Trees will never be sufficiently
disengaged, and will not spread so much as they ought to do.

When all the Trunks are crowned, they chuse the finest Shoots, and cut
up the supernumerary ones without mercy; for if this is not done out of
hand, it will be difficult to persuade one's self afterwards: tho it is
not possible but that Trees placed so near each other, should be hurtful
to each other in the end.

The Trees are no sooner crown'd, but they send forth, from time to time,
an Inch or two above the Crown, new Shoots, which they call Suckers: If
Nature was permitted to play her part, these Suckers would soon produce
a second Crown, that again new Suckers, which will produce a third,
_&c._ Thus the _Cocao-Trees_ proceed, that are wild and uncultivated,
which are found in the Woods of _Cape-Sterre_ in _Martinico_. But seeing
all these Crowns do but hinder the Growth of the first, and almost
bring it to nothing, tho it is the principal; and that the Tree, if left
to itself, runs up too high, and becomes too slender; they should take
care every Month when they go to weed it, or gather the Fruit, to prune
it; that is to say, to cut or lop off all the Suckers.

I don't know whether they have yet thought it proper to prune, any more
than to graft upon _Cocao-Trees_: There is however a sort of Pruning
which, in my Opinion, would be very advantageous to it. These sort of
Trees, for example, have always (some more than others) dead Branches
upon them, chiefly upon the Extremities of the Boughs; and there is no
room to doubt but it would be very proper to lop off these useless
Branches, paring them off with the pruning Knife even to the Quick. But
as the Advantage that will accrue from it will neither be so immediate,
nor so apparent as the Time and Pains that is employ'd in it; it is very
probable that this Care will be neglected, and that it will be esteem'd
as Labour lost. But however, the _Spaniards_ do not think so; for, on
the contrary, they are very careful to cut off all the dead Sprigs: for
which reason their Trees are more flourishing than ours, and yield much
finer Fruit. I believe they have not the same care in grafting them, nor
do I think any Person has hitherto attempted to do it: I am persuaded
neverthele