COCOA \ IT TLAXTING 71 



in these swamps from whicli no profitable returns 

 can ever be obtained. 



Before tr)'ing to reclaim a swamp we should make 

 sure that we have suliicient fall to carry off the 

 water and that the expense will not be too great. 

 Then if we dig our drains we must make up our 

 minds to keep them open, otherwise it is better to 

 leave it all alone and plant only on the dry lands. 



But there is another most serious eWl con- 

 nected with these drains. 



Science has shown the danger to human health 

 and life mosquitoes possess, and all over the 

 tropical and sub-tropical world Governments and 

 private individuals are carrying on a campaign 

 of extermination against them ; yet here we have 

 people deliberately converting their land into 

 mosquito farms. Mosquitoes breed in these drains 

 in millions, rendering the plantations almost unfit 

 for human habitation. 



When one considers this side of the question, 

 and the fact that drains are costly to make and 

 keep open, and that the land, even when drained, 

 is not good cocoanut land, however it might suit 

 rice or sugar, we are brought up with the query : 

 Is it worth while planting up this swampy land 

 with cocoanut-trees ? It is very doubtful. 



There is good cocoanut land in the delta of 



