10 



CULTIVATION. 



So long as the soil is not too clayey or too wet to prevent proper 

 ventilation and root growth the chemical constituents are of but little 

 account. In many countries it is believed that the coconut can be 

 successfully grown only near the seaboard, and in some places salt is 

 applied broadcast or around the roots at the time of transplanting, in 

 the belief that the tree requires the presence of salt in the soil; this 

 salt-loving habit of the coconut is a myth. It is believed the original 

 home of the species was the mountains of Colombia in South America. 



The economy of plowing and harrowing a field before setting out the 

 young plants depends largely upon local conditions. If the holes are 

 wide and deep and filled with "live" soil from the surface, and if all 

 cogon grass and weeds are thoroughly removed from the interspaces 

 within the first year or two after the plants are set out, plowing would 

 be in most cases, perhaps, an unnecessary expense. In this connection 

 it must be remembered that the excretions from the grass roots are 

 poisonous to most of the higher plants and trees, and, therefore, the 

 planter who allows the roots of cogon to mingle with the roots of his 

 coconuts is certainly robbing his own pocket. 



During the first few years it is permissible to plant catch crops like 

 beans, peanuts, pineapples, cassava, or sweet potatoes between the rows 

 of the young coconuts. 



The amount of cultivation, hoeing and weed cutting which will be 

 required in the grove depends on local conditions to a great extent. All 

 kinds of grass are detrimental to coconut roots. The feeding space of 

 the roots, especially of the young plants, therefore, must be kept either 

 clean or planted with some kind of beans or similar leguminous plants; 

 these legumes not only help to prevent the growth of grass and weeds, 

 but also supply nitrogen (through the bacteria in their root nodules) 

 to the soil and help to ventilate the soil and to keep its surface cool and 

 moist. 



The following leguminous species are recommended as cover crops or 

 live mulches in coconut plantations: Centrosema beans (C. plumieri), 

 Lyon bean (Mucuna hjoni), velvet bean (Stizolohium deeringianum) , 

 yam bean {Pachyrhizns spp.), sword bean (Cannvalia spp.), and any 

 similar native species; cowpeas, peanuts, mani-manihan (Alysicarpus 

 spp.), cacahuate (Glincidia maculata), and ipil {Luccena glauca). 



The cacahuate, or madre de cacao, is a shrub or small tree especially 

 recommended as it may readily be grown from cuttings stuck in the 

 ground and it can be cut back whenever its height exceeds 1.5 or 3 

 meters; the removed branches help to increase the humus layer on the 

 ground; its habit of shedding the leaves for a few weeks in the dry 

 season is a disadvantage. The ipil, or datels, is never deciduous but 

 may be raised only from seeds. Both these trees grow veiy rapidly and 



