Planting in the Philippines 93 



feeding, growing under the palms. If the 

 palms are wide planted (30 x 30) and the soil 

 anything else but the sand, pure and simple, 

 along the sea-shore, pasturage is sure to spring 

 up, and care will only be necessary to eradicate 

 harmful growth and encourage that which is 

 good both for the cattle and the palms. 



The whole article by the Davao planter 

 emphasizes the advantages of irrigating and 

 adequately cultivating coco-nut lands, as we 

 have always claimed for such methods. 

 Although few, if any, of our readers outside 

 the Philippines will care to plant Manila hemp 

 (Musa textilis) under the coco- nuts, as is advo- 

 cated for those islands, other crops, as sisal 

 in East Africa, 1 cotton, &c., as we explain in 

 other sections, can be grown in some places, for 

 several years with advantage and profit. Irri- 

 gation properly carried out would then be as 

 beneficial to the secondary crop as to the coco- 

 nut palms, and to the copra that they yield. 

 ''All American planters in Davao," we are told, 

 " now agree that irrigation and cultivation are 

 necessary and an excellent investment, as they 

 increase the amount of fibre and bring the 

 hemp to quicker maturity. Irrigation, if pro- 

 perly managed, provides an even condition of 

 moisture, thus keeping the plants growing all 

 the time, whereas a month or two without rain or 

 irrigation will cause them to remain stationary." 



1 See Tropical Life for April and May, 1912, re" Alcohol 

 from Sisal Refuse." 



