30 COCONUT CULTIVATION 



the intermediate land be ploughed or forked ? 

 Should a leguminous cover crop be grown ? Is 

 any manurial treatment required beyond an 

 occasional dressing of bullock manure ? I would 

 not wish to pronounce on any of these points, 

 though, from what I have seen, I would say 

 that clean weeding is not so great a success 

 with coconuts as it has been with rubber." 

 (Director of Agriculture of F.M.S. in 1911 

 Report.) 



Provided all the leaves of the trees have got 

 beyond their reach, cattle and buffaloes may 

 with advantage be allowed to graze over the 

 plantation. 



The dead leaves, as they fall or are picked 

 off, should be heaped up in rows, not too high, 

 between the trees, and burnt off as opportunity 

 offers. It is of some advantage to lay clods of 

 earth over these heaps before burning, as the 

 burnt earth so obtained may be applied to the 

 trees at the time the circle round them is being 

 dug up. 



Manuring. Except to stimulate a lagging 

 plant, manure should not be applied to young 

 trees, for a field should be allowed to demon- 

 strate what the soil can do for them before 

 attempting to force them. The trees may be 

 strong, but late of coming into flower, and when 

 they do bear, the crop may be disappointing, 

 or it may be in excess of the tree's strength, and 

 a large percentage may drop at different stages 



