66 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



NOTES ON ESTIMATE. 



It is assumed the soil is good, the climate favourable, and the 

 land so situated as to admit of its being opened and worked at a 

 reasonable cost. 



Seed Nuts, Nurseries and Supplies. — The selection of seed nuts 

 is a matter of primary importance. Attempts at economy in regard to 

 the purchase of these are a great mistake and only result in loss. 

 Be sure that the nuts come from healthy, matured, heavy-bearing 

 trees. Nuts of medium size and globular, with thin husks, I would 

 choose. An allowance of 30 % more seed nuts than the number of 

 plants to the acre is necessary, namely 10 % for failures in the 

 nurseries and 20 % for supplies in the first 3 years. Do not have 

 the nurseries in too shady a spot. When the time arrives for 

 planting out, remove alternate plants in the nursery, so that those 

 which remain for supplies will have more space to develop. 



Fence. — The timber on the land should provide materials for a 

 fence which should not cost much to run up, and, with occasional 

 repairs, ought to last about 2 years, but a good strong live fence is a 

 desideratum and should be got up as early as possible. Erandu 

 (Jatropha curcas) interspersed with Erabadu {Erythrina indica) and 

 Kapok (Eriodendmn anfractuosum), and also Sa/pcm ( Caesalpina 

 Sajxni) and Mauritius Hemp (Eurcrea gigantea) would make a neat 

 and efficient fence. Kapok would also give a profit by its yield of 

 cotton. 



Barbed wire fencing would be more costly, but more effective in 

 keeping cattle off the estate. Once set down practically no upkeep, 

 if quick-growing plants, such as Lvnumidella {Melia dvbia) or Kapok be 

 put down, The wire can be nailed on to them, in perhaps the third 

 year, when the posts show signs of decay. 



Distance between the Trees. — 25 ft. by 25 ft. is the proper dis 

 tance. Anything more is a waste of valuable land, besides increasing 

 the cost of cultivation, when carried on later, between the rows. The 

 superfluous spaces afforded the palms cannot result in increase of in- 

 dividual yield, and, therefore, the crop per acre, with the fewer 

 number of palms, must be considerably less. Another disadvantage is 

 the ground would be more exposed to effects of drought. 



