94 THE QUESTION OF FERTILISATION 



his estate. To do this he must not only select the 

 finest seed-nuts, plant them with care, and keep 

 his land in good order, but he must thoroughly 

 understand how to fertilise the soil by approved 

 scientific methods. Scientific fertilisation, in plain 

 English, means the return to the soil of those vital 

 constituents nitrogen, potash, phosphoric acid, 

 lime, etc. which former cultivation has absorbed. 



During the first two or three years it is rarely 

 that artificial fertilisation is required, the young 

 plants deriving ample sustenance from natural 

 water supplies. But as the trees grow older, a 

 dressing of pen manure should be lightly stirred in 

 near the extremities of the roots that is, at a 

 radius of some six to eight feet or more from the 

 trunk. This system infuses nitrogen and humus 

 into the soil, while taking nothing out ; moreover, 

 the presence of humus increases its water content 

 by augmenting its capacity to retain moisture. 



The system advocated by the Malay Government 

 expert is as follows : A trench is dug half-way 

 round the tree about 9 in. in width and, say, 1 ft. 

 in depth, close to the extremity of the roots. This 

 trench is left open for a short time, then the manure 

 is filled in and covered with the soil that has been 

 excavated. The following year the tree is again 

 treated in a similar manner. Experience shows 

 that it benefits greatly from this artificial stimula- 

 tion, and reaches a good, robust condition, when 



