84 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



25 ft. apart, and would avoid planting any closer, but in a very damp 

 district 30 ft. x 30 ft. would perhaps be more suitable both to provide 

 tor the rapid spread of the fronds and to secure heat and sunlight 

 for the soil. 



Holing. — This should be carefully attended to, and every effort 

 should be made to give the plant a good start. Nothing less than 3 

 feet square and a depth of 3 feet should be provided. Coolies, when 

 holing in undulating land, will persist in throwing all the earth on 

 the lower side. It is well-known that the richest soil is on the surface. 

 Care should, therefore, be taken that at least the first 12 to 15 inches 

 of soil be dug out and heaped on the lower side of the hole; the re- 

 mainder banked up in a semicircle on the upper side. 



.Planting Out. — When the time comes for planting out, the plants 

 should have at least four leaves — the hole should be filled up to within 

 12 to 15 inches of the surface with the richer soil and a basket of 

 ashes, if avail? ble. A secondary advantage of the soil being banked up 

 on the upper side is that it would prevent a rush of water into the hole 

 and the consequent displacement of the plant. It is now one of the 

 advantages of planting the nuts on their sides in the nursery comes in. 

 When planted out. to prevent the plants toppling over through wind 

 or rush of water, two short stakes should be driven in cross wise over 

 the nut and these keep it firmly in its place. Whore there is excessive 

 moisture, it is necessary to cut drains between the rows to carry off 

 the water that may accumulate and stagnate, and also from the holes 

 that are liable to fill. Avoid what one sees frequently done — the dump- 

 ing down of plants in deep holes, ?n which sufficient soil has not been 

 put in. The roots should be cut with a sharp knife before the plant 

 is put down, and they should not have to fight their way into hard soil. 



White Ants and Rats. — In the first stages of growth and until 

 the plants have taken a hold of the soil and are independent of the 

 nourishment they derive from the kernel and the husk, the chief diffi- 

 culty that besets the planter is the destruction caused by white ants. 

 An application of salt is beneficial, and so is the planting of an aloe 

 seedling by the stem of the plant. The sprinkling of a handful or two 

 of fresh jak or lunumidella saw-dust is also effective. But, perhaps, 

 the easiest ami surest remedy is the application of a solution of corro- 

 sive sublimate on the husk — say a teaspoonful to a bottle of water. 



During the first five years, the wary bandicoot vat and porcupine 

 prove yet more serious enemies. The damage done by them is all the 

 greater, because they do not appear on the field until the plant is, to 

 a certain extent, advanced in growth. The porcupine prefers to make 

 a meal off the. plant just when it shows a stem above ground. My 

 experience of the bandicoot, waiting until the plants are 4 or 5 years 



