COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 143 



lining should be perfectly straight. This could be done economically by 

 using two Surveyor's chains. Straight lines not only add to the appear- 

 ance of ( he estate but greatly facilitate the use of labour-saving implements 

 and allotment of tasks. A well-lined estate will remain for a century or 

 more a3 a monument of the good work done by a planter. The distance 

 of planting varies according to the nature of the soil. 27 by 27 or even 28 

 by 28 is most suitable for rich virgin soil, while for gravelly soils and 

 cinnamon land 25 by 25 is considered sufficient. 24 by 24 has proved too close 

 even for these soils as direct sunlight is absolutely necessary for assimila- 

 tive work in the leaves, and growth and production depends on the amount 

 of assimilative work done by the tree. Therefore trees should be so 

 planted a3 to prevent the leaves of one overlapping those of another. 



Holes. 

 Holes should be 3 by 3 feet by 2£ feet deep. A wooden frame 3 feet 

 square, with diagonal bars and a hole at the intersection of the diagonal 

 for the peg to pass through, should be used to mark the position of the 

 hole. The difficulty of locating the right spot to plant after the hole is 

 cut could be met by adopting a simple device. This consists of a bar 5 feet 

 long with a hole in the middle and two hol»s at either end equidistant from 

 it. This bar should be slipped on the peg, so that it passes through the 

 middle hole, and two smaller pegs driven into the ground passing through 

 the holes at the ends. Thus there would be three pegs in a straight line 

 at fixed distances from one another. Though the main peg is removed by 

 cutting the hole, its position could very easily be located by replacing the 

 bar in position, so that in planting out the only thing to do is to p'ace the 

 bar in position and fix the plant vertically under the middle hole. Holes 

 should be partly filled with surface soil mixed with ashes, and planted at 

 depths varying from 18 inches, on high land, which does not require trench- 

 ing, to one foot and even less on low land, where trenches are necessary. 



Preparation of Land. 

 In new soils the under drainage being defective and the subsoil 

 impervious to moisture, water collects on the surface and stagnates in the 

 holes either killing the young plants or retarding their growth. 



Therefore the natural watercourses should be deepened and feeder drains 

 parallel to the lines opened to drain out the surplus rain water. If this is 

 not done satisfactorily it is not possible to plant sufficiently deep owing to 

 stagnant water. But deep plantation is absolutely essential as coconut 

 plantations invariably suffer from droughts and their ill-effects are greatest 

 if the main root system is on the surface. Deep planting trains the roots on 

 to a lower strata, thus enabling the surface to be used as a soil mulch, when 

 necessary. If all the planting has to be done with the rains there is not 



