106 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL 



Any method which shades the surface of the ground reduces the 

 amount of evaporation, and for this reason shade crops are often grown 

 to protect the surface of the ground until the roots of the main crop 

 have grown to some depth and are not so dependent on the moisture 

 near the surface. In considering the use of shade crops, however, one 

 important fact is very often lost sight of, and that is the loss of water 

 which results from the transpiration of these crops. We have already 

 seen what enormous quantities of water are transpired by growing crops, 

 and although they shade the ground and lessen evaporation from the 

 surface directly beneain them it must never be forgotten that they are 

 at the same time pumping large quantities of water out of the soil, 

 often from a considerable distance, and may be more than undoing bj' 

 this means the good they do by their shade. If, however, the action of 

 these shade ciops be properly understood they can often be usefully 

 employed. The principle which should govern their use is that they 

 should not be allowed to grow continuously, and never throughout the 

 dry season. A crop of low spreading habit should be chosen giving the 

 maximum amount of shade to the surface of the ground. It should be 

 planted during the rain? and should be a quick-growing crop, which 

 reaches maturity in a few weeks. Soon after the end of the rainy season 

 or as soon as a good cover is obtained it should be cut or up-rooted 

 and allowed to lie as a mulch on the surface of the ground all through 

 the dry weather. At the beginning of the next rainy season it should be 

 dug into the ground as completely as possible, and a fresh crop planted 

 for the following dry weather. Unless this procedure can be followed, 

 and strictly followed, it is much better to leave sucli crops alone and 

 rely on cultivation to prevent loss of moisture. 



Remember that a cut crop makes a good mulch, but a growing one 

 a bad mulch. 



This brings us to the question of the effects of allowing grass Lo 

 grow around coconut or other fruit trees. 



The Evil Effects of Grass. 



It has already been noted that growing grass causes a loss of water 

 from the soil corresponding to many thousands of tons per annum from 

 every acre. If the grass is grown for the sake of its own crop, as in 

 land kept foz pasture, this loss is unavoidable, and must simply be 

 reckoned with as the requirement of a grass crop for moisture. But, if 

 there is another crop upon the land, as in the case of a coconut estate, 

 the great disadvantage of such a waste of soil moisture is at once 

 apparent. The coconut tree needs abundance of moisture, and is usually 

 planted on sandy lands, which are liable to long periods of drought. 

 Under these circumstances, the practice of allowing a grass crop to 



