68 MOZAMBIQUE 



and naked ; row after row completely stripped 

 of all lower leaves, their growth being thus 

 seriously checked. The leaves of a cocoanut-palm 

 serve several purposes. They are its breathing 

 organs ; and if we reduce the breathing capa- 

 city of a plant we at the same time reduce its 

 vigour and growth just as certainly as we 

 should reduce the vigour of a man by depriving 

 him of one lung. Another function is to provide 

 shade for the roots in the ground and for the 

 stem above the ground. 



Large trees shade one another, but small trees 

 have to protect themselves. It will be easily 

 understood that when the sun is north for the 

 greater part of the year, as at Quelimane, the 

 north side of a young palm gets terribly punished 

 by the sun when the lower leaves are cut away. 

 The even, vertical rays at the Equator do much 

 less harm in this respect. 



When there is not enough labour to clean the 

 whole ground, circles are weeded and dug round 

 the trees. This is a good system with young 

 trees that have not yet extended their roots very 

 far, but large trees do not feed directly from 

 the surface soil immediately round their bases, 

 to any great extent, but from that farther away 

 towards the centre of the rows. The surface roots 

 at the base chiefly serve the mechanical purpose 



