All kinds of soil are not equally adapted to the culture of cacao, still less are all exposures; but an analysis of the soil destined to this culture never furnishes indications on which reliance can be placed.  No regard should be had to color or composition; it is only requisite that it should be friable to a certain depth, which is ascertained by the size of the trees with which it is covered; this sign determines the land proper for cacao.

A suitable situation is not so easily found.  It should be exposed as little as possible to the north, and be on the borders of a river, which may communicate moisture to the soil in dry seasons, and receive its drainings in times of rain.  A preference is particularly to be given to land which can receive from the river the benefits of irrigation without being exposed to injury from its overflow.

After having chosen the land, it should be cleared of all trees, shrubs, and other plants.  This operation is performed in various ways.  It is customary in Colombia to commence felling the trees immediately after the rains, that is, about the month of November; the wood, after being cut, is left to dry, then collected in heaps and burnt.

As soon as the new plantation is cleared, it is crossed with small ditches, in directions according to the declivity of the soil.  These serve to drain the stagnant waters, to carry off the rains, and to irrigate or water the soil whenever necessary.  The alignement is then laid out, in which the cacao trees are to be arranged.  They are planted in triangles or squares.  In either case, there is always in the centre an alley, bordered by cacao trees, and running from east to west.  When they are planted in squares, this alley is crossed by another running from north to south.  The cacao plants should be placed at fifteen or sixteen feet (French measure) from each other, in good soil; and about thirteen or fourteen feet in soil of inferior quality.

This is almost the only tree in nature to which the enlivening beams of the sun are obnoxious.  It requires to be sheltered from their ardour; and the mode of combining this protection with the principles of fertility, forms a very essential part of the skill which its cultivation demands.  The cacao tree is mingled with other trees, which guard it from the rays of the sun, without depriving it of the benefit of their heat.  The Erythrina and the banana are employed for this purpose.  The latter, by the rapidity of its growth, and the magnitude of its leaves, protect it for the first year.  The erythrina endures at least as long as the cacao; it is not every soil, however, that agrees with it.  It perishes after a while in sandy and clayey ground, but it flourishes in such as combine those two ingredients.

In the Antilles this protection cannot be given to cacao, as it would expose the plantation to destruction by every hurricane.  Besides, the cacao succeeds but indifferently there, and is much less oily than in other parts.