WOOD-LOTS ON FARMS 21 
many crops demand shade, so that forest-trees are 
used for shelter or nurse purposes. In the North, the 
light of the forest is transmitted through the tender 
leaves of the trees. In the tropics it is more or less re- 
flected from their shiny surfaces. One tree has been 
used so much to shade the chocolate that it is called 
“the mother of the chocolate.” In Porto Rico and 
Mexico one could pass through a coffee plantation 
without knowing it. The coffee is planted in the 
shade of the forest, which has been thinned and 
cleaned. In Mexico a row of coffee- and a row of rub- 
ber-trees are planted. The rubber soon shades the 
coffee, and both are protected in early youth by a crop 
of cassava, bananas, or corn. The overwood, in many 
instances, could be a timber producer. In Java the 
teak is planted, and between the rows field crops are 
grown. The workmen, under a cooperative plan, 
are allowed the field produce by the Government, and 
a premium is given in proportion to the growth and 
prosperity of the teak-plants. This is an interesting 
cooperation, where the state owns the land and 
where the natives do the work and reap a reward 
proportionate to their efforts. Professor Knapp, in 
his report on the Agricultural Resources and Capa- 
bilities of Porto Rico, says: “ One of the most seri- 
ous obstacles confronting the agriculturist in Porto 
Rico is the scarcity of timber and wood. . . . This 
