94 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



If our Philippine friends are believers in 

 irrigation, so they are in the value of manuring. 

 When speaking of raising coco-nuts alone, i.e., 

 without a secondary crop, we are advised to 

 turn cattle into the groves as soon as the 

 trees are two-and-a-half years old. Their 

 presence keeps down vegetation and fertilizes 

 the soil, and at two-and-a-half years the cattle 

 cannot injure the plants. Doing this has 

 caused the palms at Zamboanga to bear at 

 from one to one-and-a-half years earlier than 

 when left alone. Fertilizing the soil of an old 

 grove almost doubled the size of the trees. 

 Coco-nut trees in the Moro Province of Min- 

 danao will produce their first fruit in from five 

 to five-and-a-half years, and will yield com- 

 mercial produce six months later. In another 

 twelve months i.e., eighteen months after 

 yielding their first fruit they will reach their 

 full-bearing stage. As already stated, we go 

 more fully into this matter elsewhere. 



Going back to the estimate, this can be 

 further dissected, and the expenses allocated 

 to each year, say for the first three years. Out 

 of the $62,700 shown to be needed as total 

 expenditure, $50,000 only will apparently be 

 needed for the first three years, as follows 

 (what have been left out are, of course, the re- 

 maining two years' salary, and a proportion of 

 the clearing and weeding ; in any case the 

 Philippine authority draws up his annual 

 budget of expenditure as now shown) : 



