results. "Mulching" is also recommended. This consists of
covering the ground with decaying leaves, grasses, etc., which keep the
soil in a moist and open condition during the dry season. If artificial
manures are used they should vary according to the soil, and, although
he can obtain considerable help from the analyst, the planter's most
reliable guide will be experiment on the spot.

[1] _Bulletin_, Botanic Dept., Jamaica, February, 1900.

_Planting._

In the past insufficient care has been taken in _the selection of seed_.
The planter should choose the large plump beans with a pale interior, or
he should choose the nearest kind to this that is sufficiently hardy to
thrive in the particular environment. He can plant (1) direct from
seeds, or (2) from seedlings--plants raised in nurseries in bamboo pots,
or (3) by grafting or budding. It is usual to plant two or three seeds
in each hole, and destroy the weaker plants when about a foot high. The
seeds are planted from twelve to fifteen feet apart. The distance chosen
depends chiefly on the richness of the soil; the richer the soil, the
more ample room is allowed for the trees to spread without choking each
other. Interesting results have been obtained by Hart and others by
grafting the fine but tender criollo on to the hardy forastero, but
until yesterday the practice had not been tried on a large scale.
Experiments were begun in 1913 by Mr. W.G. Freeman in Trinidad which
promise interesting results. By 1919 the Department of Agriculture had
seven acres in grafted and budded cacao. In a few years it should be
possible to say whether it pays to form an estate of budded cacao in
preference to using seedlings.

[Illustration: NURSERY, WITH THE YOUNG CACAO PLANTS IN BASKETS, JAVA.
(Reproduced from van Hall's _Cocoa_, by permission of Messrs. Macmillan
& Co.).]

[Illustration: PLANTING CACAO, TRINIDAD, FROM YOUNG SEEDLINGS IN BAMBOO
POTS.]

[Illustration: CACAO IN ITS FOURTH YEAR (SAMOA).]

There are no longer any mystic rites performed before planting. In the
old days it was the custom to solemnize the planting, for example, by
sacrificing a cacao-coloured dog (see Bancroft's _Native Races of the
Pacific States_.)

_Shade: Temporary and Permanent._

[Illustration: COPY OF AN OLD ENGRAVING SHOWING THE CACAO TREE, AND A
TREE SHADING IT.
(From _Bontekoe's Works_.)]

When the seeds are planted, such small plants as cassava, chillies,
pigeon peas and t