Until the cacao attains four feet in height, it is trimmed to the stem.  If it shoots forth several branches, they are reduced to three, at equal distances; and, in proportion as the plant increases, the leaves which appear on the three branches are stripped off.  If they bend much, and incline towards the earth, they are tied in bunches, so that the tree may not remain crooked.  The branches, which are trimmed, are cut at the distance of two fingers from the tree.  The suckers which spring from the tree are also removed, as they only live at its expense.

Enemies of the tree.—­The cacao trees should, as already stated, have sufficient shade to prevent their being burned by the sun.  If they are much exposed to its rays, their branches are scattered, crack, and the tree dies.  They are also infested with worms, which gnaw the bark all around, then attack the interior and destroy them.  The only remedy which has hitherto been found, is to employ people to kill these worms, which are deposited by a small, scaly winged insect, which gnaws the tree; as soon as it hears the approach of its destroyers, it lets itself fall, and trusts to its wings for safety.

The color of this insect is a mixture of ash color and white.  If pressed, it emits a sound something similar to the noise of water thrown on a very hot substance.  It has two small horns on its head, the points of which are directed upwards.  It is so lively that, even when the head is separated from the body, it is a long time in dying.  To deposit its progeny it makes small holes in the tree.

At the commencement of the winter, or rainy season, another worm makes its appearance, which devours the leaves of the young cacao plant.  This species of worm is called goaseme, and they are in some years so abundant, that all the people of the plantation are solely employed in destroying them.  This worm is four inches in length, and of the thickness of a finger.  It is sometimes called angaripola, or Indian, on account of the vivacity of its colors.  It is believed that these worms are mediately produced by other large worms in the earth, from which are engendered butterflies, who lay their eggs on the leaves of the cacao.  These eggs are full of small worms, which feed on the leaves of the cacao, and appear in clusters of the size of a shilling.  They are sought and destroyed with great attention, as they occasion considerable damage.  Those which escape lodge themselves in the earth, and in the succeeding year are changed into butterflies.  At the time when the worm makes its appearance, it is necessary to make fires, which should not be so large as to injure the cacao, yet sufficient to attract and burn the butterfly.

The plantations of cacao in the valley of Tuy, the quarters of Marrin, Cuba, Sabana, Ocumare, San Francis, &c., are subject to another species of worm called rasquilla.  It multiplies in the dry seasons.