180 COCONUTS AS AN INVESTMENT 



must sooner or later die of inanition. On the other 

 hand, it is quite out of the question to expect 

 investors to interest themselves in any industry, 

 however beneficial to the community, if it is 

 financially unsound and shows no prospect of 

 adequate security and profit. 



What, then, is the promise of this particular 

 industry to those who assist its development with 

 their capital ? The direct answer to this question 

 has been provided, in words already quoted in the 

 opening chapter of this work, by Sir William Lever, 

 who says : " / do not think in the whole world there 

 is a promise of so lucrative an investment of time and 

 money as in this industry" We make no apology 

 for repeating this sentence, which conveys the 

 considered judgment of one who is highly qualified 

 to speak on the subject. This should go far to 

 remove any misgivings that may still be enter- 

 tained as to the future of coconut cultivation. 



Sir William goes on to say: " Given reasonable 

 precautions and care there is very little risk of failure 

 in coconut planting . . . and a large amount of 

 capital is not required. . . . There are millions of 

 acres of waste land in tropical countries waiting to 

 be developed, and all that is wanted is a little help 

 from the authorities to convert waste tropical posses- 

 sions into veritable gold mines, producing wealth 

 beyond the dreams of avarice" 



This is no mere pen picture of the possibilities of 



