COCOS NUCIFERA. 943 
ing are shown on the plantation of Dofia Rufina Quftugua, in, the district of Mata- 
guag, while the benefits resulting from plenty of room and of cultivation of the 
ground are shown in that of Manuel Matanane, in the district of Yigo, where origi- 
nally rows of cacao were planted alternately with those of coconuts. The cacao did 
not thrive and was removed, but the coconuts grew with remarkable rapidity. 
The natives say that the trees are too far apart, but the fact that many of them 
began to bear when 3 years old, while in other good localities they do not bear until 
4, 5, or 6 years old, speaks for itself. On the mesa, or table-land, coconut trees fre- 
quently are 8 to 10 years, or even 15 years, old before they begin to bear. In Yigo 
and Santa Rosa they begin to bear usually when 5 or 6 years old, and in Yona when 
7 or8 years. A coconut palm is in its best bearing condition from the age of 10 
years on. It will continue to bear until 80 years old. Catch crops may be planted 
between the rows while the trees are young. These are far less exhausting than the 
weeds which would otherwise cover the ground, and the soil is benefited by the cul- 
tivation, especially if nitrogen-storing leguminous crops are grown. The common 
practice in Guam is to keep off the weeds from anarea about 6 feet in radius about 
the trees by means of a thrust-hoe (fusifio or foziiio), and throughout the rest of the 
plantation to cut the undergrowth from time to time with a machete. Attention is 
called by Lyon to the excellent methods of coconut cultivation practiced by the 
German colonists in German East Africa and in the South Pacific islands and by 
the French in Congo and Madagascar, who practice modern orchard methods. Mr. 
Lyon recommends planting coconuts at distances of not less than 9 meters, and, in 
good soils, preferably 9.5 meters. The former distance will allow for 125 and the 
latter tor 111 trees to the hectare. He recommends annual plowing of the planta- 
tion and the cultivation of green manures and crops to keep up the fertility of the 
land. In Guam plowing is impracticable in many localities, owing to the thinness 
of the soil covering the coral substratum; and the prevailing system of keeping the 
plantations clear of weeds by means of the thrust hoe, by which the roots can not 
possibly be injured, seems to be a good one. Manuring is never practiced in Guam, 
and it is to this fact that the absence of the beetles which, in their larval stage, are 
so injurious to coconuts in other countries, should be attributed. 
The boundaries between plantations on the island of Guam are usually indicated 
by lines of coconut trees, either single or double. It is the common practice to cut 
notches in the trunks to facilitate climbing. This practice is condemned by many 
writers, but in Guam the trees do not appear to be injured thereby. Sometimes a 
hole is cut near the base of the trunk to serve as a water reservoir. This seems to 
cause decay and should not be permitted. Asa rule the natives do not plant coco- 
nut trees near their dwellings for fear of accidents during hurricanes. Every family 
selects one or two trees for a supply of toddy, and many of them keep small groves 
to furnish thatch for their houses, which must be renewed at intervals of about three 
years. The extraction of tuba does not injure the trees in any way, but the cutting 
of leaves causes injuries from which it takes years to recover. The inflorescence 
which forms in the axils of old leaves becomes aborted when these leaves are cut off, 
Young plantations are frequently injured by the deer with which the island abounds, 
and care must be taken to prevent cattle from entering them. To keep out the deer 
the natives simply inclose a field with a ribbon of pariti bark (/. tiliaceum), through 
which they say the deer will not pass. Coconut trees are free from disease in Guam, 
and very little harm is done to them by insects. 
REFERENCES: 
Cocos nucifera L, Sp. Pl. 2: 1188, 1753. 
Codiaeum variegatum. See Phyllaurea variegata. 
«Lyon, The cocoanut, etc. Bureau of Agr. [Philippines], Bull. No. 8, 1903. 
