The Natural History of Chocolate/Part I/Chapter III

CHAP. III.

Of the Method of Planting a Nursery, and to cultivate it till the Fruit comes to Maturity.

Cocao-Trees are planted from the Kernel or Seed, for the Nature of the Wood will not admit of Slips: They open a Cocao-Shell, and according as they have occasion, take out the Kernels, and plant them one by one, beginning, for example, at the first Stick: They pluck it up, and with a sort of a Setting-Stick made of Iron, and well sharpened, they make a Hole, and turning the Iron about, cut off the little Roots that may do hurt. They plant the Kernel three or four Inches deep, and thrust in the Stick they before had pluck'd up a little on one side, to serve as a Mark: and so they proceed from Stick to Stick, and from Rank to Rank, till they have gone through the whole Nursery.

It must be observed, 1. Not to plant in a dry Season. One may indeed plant in any Month of the Year, or any Moon, new or old, when the Season is cool, and the Place ready; but it is commonly believed, that planting from September to Christmas, the Trees bear more than in some Months.

2. Not to plant any but the largest Kernels, and such as are plump: For since in the finest Shells there are sometimes withered Kernels, it would be very imprudent to make use of them.

3. To plant the great Ends of the Kernels lowermost. This is that which is held by a little Thread to the Center of the Shell, when one takes the Kernel out. If the little End was placed downward, the Foot of the Tree would become crooked, neither would it prosper; and if it was placed sideways, the Foot would not succeed very well.

4. To put two or three Kernels at every Stick, that if by any Mischance the tender Shoots of one or two are broken by Insects, or otherwise, there may be one left to supply the Defect. If no bad Accident happen, you have the advantage of chusing the straitest and most likely Shoot. But it is not best to cut up the supernumerary ones till that which is chosen is grown up, and, according to all appearance, out of danger.

The Kernels come up in ten or twelve Days, more or less, according as the Season, more or less favourable, hastens or backens their Growth: The longish Grain of the Germ beginning to swell, sends forth the little Root downwards, which afterwards becomes the chief Stay of the Tree, and upwards it pushes out the Shoot, which is an Epitomy of the Trunk and the Branches. These Parts encreasing, and discovering themselves more and more, the two Lobes of the Kernel a little separated and bent back, appear first out of the Earth, and regain their natural Position, in proportion as the Shoot rises, and then separate themselves intirely, and become two Leaves of a different Shape, of an obscure Green, thick, unequal, and, as it were, shrivel'd up, and make what they call the Ears of the Plant. The Shoot appears at the same time, and is divided into two tender Leaves of bright Green: To these two first Leaves, opposite to each other, succeed two more, and to these a third Pair. The Stalk or Trunk rises in proportion, and thence forward during a Year, or thereabouts.

The whole Cultivation of the Cocao-Tree may then be reduced to the Practice of two Things.

First, To over-look them during the first fifteen Days; that is to say, to plant new Kernels in the room of those that do not come up, or whose Shoots have been destroy'd by Insects, which very often make dreadful Havock among these Plants, even when one would think they are out of danger. Some Inhabitants make Nurseries a-part, and transplant them to the Places where they are wanting: but as they do not all grow, especially when they are a little too big, or the Season not favourable, and because the greatest part of those that do grow languish a long time, it always seem'd to me more proper to set fresh Kernels; and I am persuaded, if the Consequences are duly weighed, it will be practised for the future.

Secondly, Not to let any Weeds grow in the Nursery, but to cleanse it carefully from one end to the other, and taking care, above all things, not to let any Herb or Weed grow up to Seed; for if it should happen so but once, it will be very difficult thenceforwards to root those troublesome Guests out, and to keep the Nursery clean, because the Cold in this Country never interrupts Vegetation.

This Weeding should be continued till the Trees are become large, and their Branches spreading, cast such a Shade as to hinder the Weeds from coming up; and afterwards, the Leaves falling from the Trees, and covering the Earth, will contribute to stifle them intirely. When this troublesome Business of Weeding is ended, it will be sufficient to overlook them once a Month, and pluck up here and there those few Weeds that remain, and to carry them far into the Woods for fear of Seeds.

When the Cocao-Trees are nine Months old, the Manioc should then begin to be pluck'd up; and it should be managed so, that in three Months time there should be none left. There may be a Row or two replanted in each Alley, and Cucumbers, Citruls, and Giraumonts may be sow'd in the void Spaces, or Caribean Coleworts; because these Plants having great spreading Leaves, are very proper to keep the Earth cool and moist, and to stifle the noisome Weeds. When the Cocao-Trees come to shade the Ground entirely, then it will be necessary to pluck up every thing, for nothing then will grow beneath 'em.

The Cocao-Trees of one Year old have commonly a Trunk of four Feet high, and begin to spread, by sending out five Branches at the top, all at a time, which forms that which they call the Crown of a Cocao-Tree. It seldom happens that any of these five Branches are wanting, and if by any Accident, or contrary to the Order of Nature, it has but three or four, the Tree never comes to good, and it will be better to cut it off, and wait for a new Crown, which will not be long before it is form'd.

If at the end of the Year the Manioc is not plucked up, they will make the Trees be more slow in bearing; 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 nevertheless, that the Cocao-Trees would be better for it. Is it not by the assistance of grafting our Fruit Trees in several manners, (which were originally wild, and found by chance in the Woods) that they have at length found the Art of making them bear such excellent Fruit?

In proportion as the Cocao-Trees grow, the Leaves upon the Trunks fall off by little and little, which ought to fall off on their own accord; for when they are entirely bare, they have not long to flourish: The first Blossoms commonly fall off, and the ripe Fruit is not to be expected in less time than three Years, and that if it be in a good Soil. The fourth Year the Crop is moderate, and the fifth it is as great as ever it will be; for then the Trees commonly bear all the Year about, and have Blossoms and Fruit of all Ages. Some Months indeed there is almost none, and others, they are loaded; and towards the Solstices, that is, in June and December, they bear most.

As in the Tempests called Ouragans the Wind blows from all Points of the Compass in twenty-four Hours, it will be well if it does not break in at the weakest Place of the Nursery, and do a great deal of Mischief, which it is necessary to remedy with all possible expedition. If the Wind has only overturn'd the Trees without breaking the chief Root, then the best Method that can be taken in good Soil, is to raise them up again, and put them in their Places, propping them up with a Fork, and putting in the Earth about it very carefully: By this means they will be re-establish'd in less than six Months, and they will bear again as if no harm had come to them. In bad Soil, it will be better to let them lie, putting the Earth about the Roots, and cultivate at their lower Parts, or Feet, the best grown Sucker, and that which is nearest the Roots, cutting off carefully all the rest: The Tree in this Condition will not give over blossoming and bearing Fruit; and when in two Years time the Sucker is become a new Tree, the old Tree must be cut off half a Foot distant from the Sucker.