COCONUTS AS AN INVESTMENT 185 



explained, is physically impossible for several 

 generations to come, if at all. 



3. The produce is easily marketed in a regular, 

 open and businesslike manner. 



4. The dividend- earning capacity of the capital 

 invested must inevitably expand as the demand 

 increases, because (a) prices will naturally rise in 

 proportion, (b) the producing capacity of the 

 estates must progressively increase as the trees 

 mature, and (c) because of the improved methods 

 of cultivation and exploitation that will be intro- 

 duced by properly organised and equipped planting 

 companies. 



5. Most of the best plantations being located on 

 the seashore transport and shipment are rendered 

 both easy and cheap. 



6. Labour is never likely to prove a disturbing 

 factor, there being an abundance of workers. 



7. There is no possibility of the keenest com- 

 petition among utilisers of the products materially 

 affecting the prices obtained by planters, whose 

 profits, therefore, will remain unaltered. 



8. The most favoured coconut- growing regions, 

 notably Malabar, West Indies and West Africa, are 

 under British control, so that their development 

 can be organised under the safeguards and guaran- 

 tees of British law and custom. This is a point of 

 vital importance to the investor, who has far too 

 often seen the safety of his capital imperilled by 



