18 COCONUTS, KERNELS, AND CACAO. 



positions within two to eighteen months from the time 

 shoots make their appearance. The seed beds are care- 

 fully prepared and well heaped up, but not made so wide 

 as to interfere with watering them in dry weather. The 

 nut should not be planted too deep, nor covered with 

 more than 1J to 2 inches of earth. Manuring is not 

 necessary, as it only attracts ants and beetles. The beds 

 must be kept clean and the soil loose, to get rid of 

 grubs. 



A month or two later shoots appear, and the plants 

 are ready for transplanting at the end of one year, when 

 they should have an average height of 18 inches. The 

 seed beds must be kept moist and the young plants 

 watered during a continuance of dry weather. Care is 

 taken to remove the plant with the decaying kernel 

 still attached to it, but the roots are sometimes cut 

 rather short to prevent rot. 



All leaves, except the inmost ones, are cut to diminish 

 resistance to the winds. Transplanting from the nursery, 

 the planter digs channels or trenches alongside the plants, 

 slightly deeper than the bottom of the roots, previously 

 well watering them to prevent the earth crumbling from 

 the roots during removal, the idea being to retain with 

 it as much of its natural soil as possible. 



The seedling is lifted carefully from the nursery beds, 

 and any damaged roots cut back. A small hole is made 

 in the centre of the large one, and in this the nut which 

 is still attached to the young plant is placed, and covered 

 for about three parts of its depth. The soil is not levelled 

 at the time of planting, but a basin-shaped depression 

 is formed round the young plant. As growth progresses 

 this will become filled with fine sandy soil washed in 



