William Scrugham Lyon

“ The plantation should now be in fair condition for a corn crop, and, as a very slight shading is not prejudicial to the young palms, the corn can be planted close enough to the trees, leaving only sufficient space to admit of the free cultivation that both require.
It must not be forgotten that corn makes the most serious inroads upon our soil fertility of any of the crops in our rotation, and, unless by this time the planter is prepared to feed all the grain produced to fatten swine or cattle, it had better be eliminated from the rotation and peanuts substituted. ”

“ It is customary, when writing of any crop culture, to give precedence to site and soil, but in the case of cacao these considerations are of secondary importance, and while none of the minor operations of planting, pruning, cultivation, and fertilizing may be overlooked, they are all outweighed by the single essential—climate. ”

“ Copra and Cocoanut Oil. Until very recent years the demand for the “meat” of the cocoanut or its products was limited to the uses of soap boilers and confectioners. Probably there is no other plant in the vegetable kingdom which serves so many and so varied purposes in the domestic economy of the peoples in whose countries it grows. Within the past decade chemical science has produced from the cocoanut a series of food products whose manufacture has revolutionized industry and placed the business of the manufacturer and of the producer upon a plane of prosperity never before enjoyed. ”

“ Nonresidence upon a cacao plantation is an equivalent term for ultimate failure. Every operation demands the exercise of the observant eye and the directing hand of a master, but there is no field of horticultural effort that offers more assured reward, or that will more richly repay close study and the application of methods wrought out as the sequence of those studies. ”

“ But there are expedients to which the planter may have recourse which, if utilized, may return every dollar of cultural outlay. By the use of a wise rotation he can not only maintain his land in a good productive condition but realize a good biennial crop that will keep the plantation from being a financial drag. The rotation that occurs to me as most promising on the average cocoanut lands of these Islands would be, first, a green manure crop, followed by corn and legumes, succeeded by cotton, and then back to green manures. ”

“ Planters are united in the opinion that pruning, cutting, or in any way lacerating the roots is injurious to the cacao, and in deference to this opinion all cultivation close to the tree should be done with a harrow-tooth cultivator, or shallow scarifier. All intermediate cultivation should be deep and thorough, whenever the mechanical condition of the soil will permit it. A plant stunted in youth will never make a prolific tree; early and continuous growth can only be secured by deep and thorough cultivation. ”

“ That the cocoanut will grow and thrive upon the immediate seashore, in common with other plants, is simply an indication of its adaptability to environment. That it is at a positive disadvantage as a shore plant may be determined conclusively by anyone who will examine the root system of a seashore-grown tree upturned by a wash or tidal wave, and one uprooted from any cause, farther inland. ”

“ There are few cultivated crops that make less drain upon soil fertility than cacao, and few drafts upon the land are so easily and inexpensively returned. From an examination made of detailed analyses by many authors and covering many regions, it may be broadly stated that an average crop of cacao in the most-favored districts is about 9 piculs per hectare, and that of the three all-important elements of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, a total of slightly more than 4.2 kilograms is removed in each [20] picul of cured seeds harvested. ”

“ The next step in our suggested rotation is the cotton crop. Here, too, limitations are imposed upon the planter who is without abundant manurial resources to maintain the future integrity of his grove. He may sell the lint from his cotton, but he can not dispose of it (as is frequently done here) in the seed.
If the enterprise be not upon a scale that will justify the equipment of a mill and the manufacture of the oil, he has no alternative but to return the seed in lieu of the seed cake, wasteful and extravagant though such a process be. ”

“ It is to them and not to the nitrogen that we look for the formation of strong, stocky, well-ripened wood capable of fruit bearing and for fruit that shall be sound, highly flavored, and well matured.
The bearing life of such a tree will surely be healthfully prolonged for many years beyond one constantly driven with highly stimulating foods, and in the end amply repay the grower for the vigilance, toil, and original expenditure of money necessary to maintaining a well-grown and well-appointed cacao plantation. ”

“ The progressive German colonist of Kamerun, German East Africa, and the South Pacific Islands, as well as the French in Congo and Madagascar, are vigorously practicing conventional, modern orchard methods in the treatment of their cocoanut groves, and it is amazing to read of discussions between Ceylon and Indian nut growers as to the best method of tethering cattle upon cocoanut palms in pasture, so as to obtain the most benefit from their excreta. ”

“ The enemies of the cacao seed are legion. Drought, birds, worms, ants, beetles, mice, and rats will all contribute their quota to prevent a good “stand” and entail the necessity of repeated plantings. Success by planting “at stake” is so doubtful that it is rarely followed by experienced planters.
The consequent alternative lies in rearing seedlings in seed beds that are under immediate control, and, when the plants are of sufficient size, in transplanting them to their proper sites in the orchard. ”

“ It is probably true that, except on very sandy soils, continued surface irrigation would aggravate the superficial root-developing tendency of the tree; and to what extent, if any, occasional laceration by deep shovel tooth cultivation would injure the tree remains to be seen. There are, however, few economic plants that so quickly repair root damage as the Palmæ, and, unless the seat of injury extends over a very large area, it is probable that the resulting injury would be of no consequence, as compared with the general benefits that would result from irrigation. ”

“ We have many safe ways of applying nitrogen through the medium of various catch crops of pulse or beans, with the certainty that we can never overload the soil with more than the adjacent tree roots can take up and thoroughly assimilate. When the time comes that the orchard so shades the ground that crops can no longer be grown between the rows, then, in preference to stable manures I would recommend cotton-seed cake or “poonac,” the latter being always obtainable in this Archipelago. ”

“ A tree-nesting rat, which nibbles the young nuts, is also a source of considerable loss. The rat is best overcome by frequent disturbance of his quarters. This involves the removal of the dead leaves and thatch that form constantly about the base of the crown. But the wisdom of this recommendation will depend entirely upon circumstances. As the planter may find that rats or the rhinoceros beetle are the lesser evil, so should he be governed.
There are localities in the Archipelago where the plague of rats is unknown and where the beetles abound. ”

“ Perhaps the most serious difficulty the oil maker has to contend with is the continuous discouragement he encounters from the agent of foreign factories, who buys in the open market and, bidding up to nearly the full oil value of the copra, finds an ample manufacturer’s profit paid by the press cake, so valuable abroad, but, unfortunately, practically without sale or value here. The residue from the mill may be utilized both for food and for manure by the oil maker who is a tree owner and who maintains cattle. ”

“ It should be stated, however, that the operating expenses are based upon a systematic and scientific management of the estate; while the returns or income are based upon revenue from trees that are at the disadvantage of being without culture of any kind, and, while I am of the opinion that the original cost per acre of the plantation, nor its current operating expenses may be much reduced below the figures given, I feel that there is a reasonable certainty that the crop product may be materially increased beyond the limit of two “catties.” ”

“ As a matter of fact every grain of sand in excess of that required to secure a condition of perfect permeability is a positive disadvantage and must be paid for by a correspondingly larger area of cultivation and by future soil amendment. For the rest, the richer and deeper the soil the less the expense of maintaining soil fertility. ”

“ Monkeys, rats, and parrots are here and in all tropical countries the subject of much complaint, and if the plantation is remote from towns or in the forest, their depredations can only be held in check by the constant presence of well-armed hunter or watchman. Of the more serious enemies with which we have to deal, pernicious insects and in particular those that attack the wood of the tree, everything has yet to be learned. ”

“ The fall from a lofty tree not infrequently cracks the inner shell, without giving any external evidence of the injury. A seed so injured will never sprout and therefore is worthless for seed purposes.
Freshly collected seed nuts contain in the husk more moisture than is required to effect germination, and if planted in this condition, decay is apt to set in before germination occurs. To avoid this the natives tie them in pairs, sling them over bamboo poles where they are exposed to the air but sheltered from the sun, and leave them until well sprouted. ”

“ The prices of the crop are estimated at 48 cents per kilo, which is the current price for the best grades of cacao in the world’s markets. The yield per tree is given as 2 catties, or 1.25 kilos, a fair and conservative estimate for a good tree, with little or no cultivation. The prices for unskilled labor are 25 per cent in advance of the farm hand in the Visayan islands. No provision is made for management or supervision, as the owner will, it is assumed, act as manager. ”

“ At best, all of the above suggested methods are but crude expedients to replace the more workmanlike, expeditious, and satisfactory process of planting the conventional nursery grown stock. There is nothing more difficult in the rearing of cacao seedlings than in growing any other evergreen fruit tree. Briefly stated, it is only the finding of a well-prepared, well-shaded seed bed and sowing the seeds in rows or drills, and, when the seedlings are of proper size, in lifting and transferring them to the plantation. ”

“ The fruitfulness of the first class is undoubtedly a result of accidental heredity, for the planter has in the past made no selection except by chance, nor is the characteristic in any way due to his cultural system, which consists in planting the nut and letting nature and heredity do the rest. ”

“ Marked increase in crop has followed a heavy thinning out of trees upon the Government cocoanut farm at San Ramon, Mindanao. The improvement that a freer circulation of air and abundant sunlight have effected is very marked. Where it can be done, plowing is also sometimes feasible and should be followed by immediate crop improvement. The average native plow is not so well adapted for working over an old or neglected grove as it is for original soil preparation. ”

“ It is by this means that many excellent sorts are now in cultivation in different regions that have continued to vary from the three original, common forms of Theobroma cacao, until now it is a matter of some difficulty to differentiate them.
Residence.—The conditions for living in the Philippines offer peculiar, it may be said unexampled, advantages to the planter of cacao. The climate as a whole is remarkably salubrious, and sites are to be found nearly everywhere for the estate buildings, sufficiently elevated to obviate the necessity of living near stagnant waters. ”

“ It remains for the planter to determine if the crop thus grown is to be plowed under, or if he will use it to still better advantage by partially feeding it, subject, as previously stated, to an honest return to the land of all the manure resulting therefrom.
He may utilize it in any way, even to selling the resulting seed crop, provided all the remaining brush is turned back to the land and a portion of the money he receives for the seed be reinvested in high-grade potash and phosphatic manures. ”

“ Another general precaution that will be taken by every planter who aims to maintain the best condition in his orchard is the gathering and burning of all prunings or trimmings from the orchard, whether they are diseased or not. Decaying wood of any kind is a field for special activity for insect life and fungous growth, and the sooner it is destroyed the better. ”

“ This stage of the cultural story brings us once more face to face with the principle contended for at the beginning of this paper, namely, that there can be no permanent prosperity in this branch of horticulture until the crop is so worked up into its ultimate products that none of the residue of manufacture goes to waste. ”

“ Hillsides, when not too precipitous, frequently offer admirable shelter and desirable soils, but their use entails a rather more complicated system of drainage, to carry away storm water without land washing, and for the ready conversion of the same into irrigating ditches during the dry season. Further, every operation involved must be performed by hand labor, and in the selection of such a site the planter must be largely influenced by the quantity and cost of available labor. ”

“ An examination of the roots of an overthrown tree in such a locality will show that all of those in the submerged zone have perished and rotted away, but that such is the vitality and recuperative energy of the tree that it has thrown out a new feeding system in the dryer soil of the mound immediately surrounding the stem, which has been sufficient to successfully carry on the functions of nutrition, but altogether ineffective to anchor the tree securely, or to prevent its prostration before the first heavy gale. ”

“ Such minor operations as the removal of thin, wiry, or hide-bound growths and all suckers suggest themselves to every horticulturist, whether he be experienced in cacao growing or not. When a tree is exhausted by overbearing, or has originally been so ill formed that it is not productive, a strong sucker or “gourmand” springing from near the ground may be encouraged to grow. By distributing the pruning over two or three periods, in one year the old tree can be entirely removed and its place substituted by the “gourmand.” ”

“ In India, Ceylon, the Penang Peninsula, and Cochin China, where the tree has been cultivated for generations, the most that was ever attempted until very recently was to throw a little manure in the hole where the tree was planted, and for all future time to depend on the inferior, grass-made [26] droppings of a few cattle tethered among the trees, to compensate for the half million or more nuts that a hectare of fairly productive trees should yield during their normal bearing life. ”

“ Although I have seen trees here that have been bearing continuously for twenty-two years, I have been unable to find so much as one that to the knowledge of the oldest resident has ever been fertilized in any way, yet, notwithstanding our lack of knowledge of local conditions, it seems perfectly safe to predicate that liberal manuring with stable manure or highly ammoniated fertilizers would insure a rank, succulent growth that is always prejudicial to the best and heaviest fruit production. ”

“ To make the first green crop effective as a manure, both lime and potash are essential—the former to make available the nitrogen we hope to gather, and the potash in order to secure the largest and quickest growth of the pulse we are to raise for manurial purposes. ”

“ When the worm hatches, it enters the wood and traverses it longitudinally until it is ready to assume the mature or beetle state, when it comes to the surface and makes its escape. These worms will frequently riddle an entire branch and even enter the trunk. The apertures that the beetle makes for the laying of its eggs are so small—more minute than the head of a pin—that discovery and probing for the worm with a fine wire is not as fruitful of results as has been claimed. ”

“ Annual plowings should not be dispensed with during the life of the plantation. These plowings may be relatively shallow, sufficient to cover under the green manures and crops that are made an indispensable [25] condition to the continued profitable conduct of the industry. Nothing is to be gained by the removal of the earliest flowering spikes. Flowering is the congestion of sap at a special point which, if the grower could control it, he would wish to direct, in the case of young plants, to the building up of leaf and wood. ”

“ All modern cocoanut-oil mills are supplied with a decorticator armed with revolving discs that tear or cut through the husk longitudinally, freeing the nut from its outer covering and leaving the latter in the best possible condition for the subsequent extraction of its fiber. This decorticator is fed from a hopper and is made of a size and capacity to husk from 500 to 1,000 nuts per hour.
Rasping and grinding machinery of many patterns and makes, for reducing the meat to a pulp, is used in India, Ceylon, and China ”

“ Lands very rich in humus, as some of our forest valleys are, undoubtedly carry ample nitrogenous elements of fertility to maintain the trees at a high standard of growth for many years, but provision is indispensable for a regular supply of potash and phosphoric acid as soon as the trees come into heavy bearing. ”

“ When land transportation has to be considered, the lack of good roads still further impedes the oil maker. He can not change the size and weight of his packages from day to day to meet the varying passability of the trail. On the other hand, packages of copra may be adjusted to meet all emergencies, and the planter can thus take advantage of the market conditions which may be denied to the oil maker. ”

“ Cacao Culture in the Philippines. Introduction. Cacao in cultivation exists nearly everywhere in the Archipelago. I have observed it in several provinces of Luzon, in Mindanao, Joló, Basilan, Panay, and Negros, and have well-verified assurances of its presence in Cebú, Bohol, and Masbate, and it is altogether reasonable to predicate its existence upon all the larger islands anywhere under an elevation of 1,000 or possibly 1,200 meters. Nevertheless, in many localities the condition of the plants is such as not to justify the general extension of cacao cultivation into all regions. ”

“ The labor situation is bound more seriously to affect the small planter, wholly dependent upon hand labor, than the estate conducted on a large enough scale to justify the employment of modern machinery.
8. In view of an ever-expanding demand for cocoanut products, and in the light of the foregoing conclusions, the industry, when prosecuted upon a considerable scale and subject to the requirements previously set forth, promises for many years to be one of the most profitable and desirable enterprises which command the attention of the Filipino planter. ”