56 THE COST OF A COCONUT ESTATE 



and generally make the estate pay dividends. In 

 a word, the ideal manager is born, not made. He 

 commands a salary of, say, from 500 to 900 per 

 annum, and this may have to be increased as the 

 industry develops, for with new estates being 

 organised there will be increasing competition for 

 his services, and he will be called upon to assume 

 greater responsibility. This has led to the suggestion 

 of a Tropical Agricultural College, referred to else- 

 where, for the training of young men to fill these 

 important and lucrative positions. It is remarkable 

 how quickly a good manager's reputation spreads, 

 not only among Directors and other officials, but 

 also among the natives, who keenly appreciate firm, 

 just control, and will often leave a second-rate man 

 in order to join the estate of a popular " boss." 

 The really gifted manager, therefore, can command 

 labour at critical moments when others are clamour- 

 ing for it in vain. This is the triumph of experience, 

 tact, and personality, without which qualities none 

 can really succeed in the control of a coconut 

 plantation. The right man must have a sound 

 mind in a sound body ; be prepared to meet 

 sudden emergencies and even disasters ; be some- 

 thing of a doctor, and even practise a little simple 

 surgery in cases of need, for where natives are 

 constantly using sharp instruments like the cutlass, 

 and are exposed to bites, etc., accidents are not 

 long in happening. He must also act as his own 



