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                   Philippine Bureau of Agriculture.


                        Farmer's Bulletin No. 2.

                    CACAO CULTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES



                                   By

                            WILLIAM S. LYON,

               In charge of seed and plant introduction.



        Prepared under the direction of the Chief of the Bureau.

                                Manila:

                       Bureau of Public Printing.

                                 1902.





CONTENTS.


                                            Page.

        Letter of transmittal                 4
        Introduction                          5
        Climate                               6
        The plantation site                   7
        The soil                              7
        Preparation of the soil               8
        Drainage                              8
        Forming the plantation                9
        Selection of varieties               10
        Planting                             11
        Cultivation                          13
        Pruning                              13
        Harvest                              16
        Enemies and diseases                 18
        Manuring                             19
        Supplemental notes                   21
        New varieties                        21
        Residence                            21
        Cost of a cacao plantation           22





LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.


Sir: I submit herewith an essay on the cultivation of cacao, for the
use of planters in the Philippines. This essay is prompted first,
because much of the cacao grown here is of such excellent quality as
to induce keen rivalry among buyers to procure it at an advance of
quite 50 per cent over the common export grades of the Java bean,
notwithstanding the failure on the part of the local grower to
"process" or cure the product in any way; second, because in parts
of Mindanao and <DW64>s, despite ill treatment or no treatment, the
plant exhibits a luxuriance of growth and wealth of productiveness
that demonstrates its entire fitness for those regions and leads us
to believe in the successful extension of its propagation throughout
these Islands; and lastly because of the repeated calls upon the Chief
of the Agricultural Bureau for literature or information bearing upon
this important horticultural industry.

The importance of cacao-growing in the Philippines can hardly be
overestimated. Recent statistics place the world's demand for cacao
(exclusive of local consumption) at 200,000,000 pounds, valued at
more than $30,000,000 gold.

There is little danger of overproduction and consequent low prices
for very many years to come. So far as known, the areas where cacao
prospers in the great equatorial zone are small, and the opening and
development of suitable regions has altogether failed to keep pace
with the demand.

The bibliography of cacao is rather limited, and some of the best
publications, [2] being in French, are unavailable to many. The leading
English treatise, by Professor Hart, [3] admirable in many respects,
deals mainly with conditions in Trinidad, West Indies, and is fatally
defective, if not misleading, on the all-important question of pruning.

The life history of the cacao, its botany, chemistry, and statistics
are replete with interest, and will, perhaps, be treated in a future
paper.


    Respectfully,

        Wm. S. Lyon,
        In Charge of Seed and Plant Introduction.

        Hon. F. Lamson-Scribner,
        Chief of the Insular Bureau of Agriculture.





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, Jolo,
Basilan, Panay, and <DW64>s, and have well-verified assurances of its
presence in Cebu, 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 presence
of cacao in a given locality is an interesting fact, furnishing a
useful guide for investigation and agricultural experimentation, but,
as the purpose of this paper is to deal with cacao growing from a
commercial standpoint, it is well to state that wherever reference is
made to the growth, requirements, habits, or cultural treatment of the
plant the commercial aspect is alone considered. As an illustration,
attention is called to the statement made elsewhere, that "cacao exacts
a minimum temperature of 18 deg."; although, as is perfectly well known
to the writer, its fruit has sometimes matured where the recorded
temperatures have fallen as