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.
Of even more consideration than an occasional root cutting is any
injury, however small, to the tree stem, and on this account every
precaution should be taken to protect the trees from accidental injury
when plowing or cultivating. The whiffletree of the plow or cultivator
used should be carefully fendered with rubber or a soft woolen packing
that will effectually guard against the carelessness of workmen. Wounds
in the bark or stem offer an inviting field for the entry of insects
or the spores of fungi, and are, furthermore, apt to be overlooked
until the injury becomes deep seated and sometimes beyond repair.
With the gradual extension of root development, cultivation will
be reduced to a narrow strip between the rows once occupied by the
plantain or the abacá, but, to the very last, the maintenance of the
proper soil conditions should be observed by at least one good annual
plowing and by as many superficial cultivations as the growth of the
trees and the mechanical state of the land will admit.