i08 coconut planter's manual. 



the chief obstacles in the way of progress in this important branch of 

 agriculture. It is altogether wrong to look upon coconut land as pasture 

 ground for cattle, more especially for cattle which serve no useful 

 purpose. No more cactle should be kept on an estate than are needed 

 to work it, and this number tloes not exceed, for carting purposes, two 

 pairs of bulls for every hundred acres of iand in bearing. If modern 

 methods oT cultivation by means of ploughs or harrows are employed 

 we may add out extra pair, giving a total of 6 head of cattle as ample for 

 all requirements. If tbese are allowed to feed on the grass growing 

 around the trees, they will probably need as much as 20 acres to sup- 

 port them, whereas if they were grazed on good pasture land they would 

 get all the grass they need from 6 acres, while if their grass feed were 

 supplemented by poonac, even a less acreage of pasture would suffice 

 for their support. On an estate of 100 acres, therefore, not more than 

 acres of good pasture land are required, and this iand should be set 

 aside and cultivated for this purpose. There is no need to cut down the 

 coconut trees ; all that is required is to cultivate these 6 acres to give 

 a maximum grass crop, the coconuts being considered a secondary 

 crop and left to take care of themselves, whila the remaining 94 acres 

 are kept entncly free from grass and cultivated for a maximum crop 

 of coconuts. 



Before considering the subject of manuring, mention may be made 

 of one other method by which loss of soil water can be diminished. 

 The capacity of the toil for holding moisture can be increased by in- 

 creasing the amount of organic matter it contains. By organic matter 

 is meant chiefly the decaying remains of vegetation such as accumulate 

 in the soil of a jungle. Soils which are rich in this material hold much 

 more moisture after ram than do open sandy soils, and by digging quan- 

 tities of vegetable matter into sandy soils they are gradually made more 

 able to hold the water which falls on them as rain instead of allowing it 

 to sink through them heyond the reach of roots. Cattle manure acts in 

 much the sanie way, and does much to improve the water-holding capa- 

 city of sandy soils. 



The Use of Manure. 

 The purpose of manuring is to supply the growing crop with the 

 food it requires. This food is present in all soils, but, as everyone 

 knows, soils vary in quality. Some are rich and bear heavy crops, others 

 are poor and produce meagre stunted vegetation; and when this poor- 

 ness is due to lack of plant-food they can be improved by applications of 

 manure. 



The plant-foods which it is necessary to apply as manure are only 

 three in number, namely Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and Potash, but 

 these three substances can be used in a great many different forms. 



