< Coco-huts- -The Consols of the East 



to the benefit of the soil and your own 

 pocket. Again, as stated elsewhere, quite a 

 respectable crop can be obtained from palms 

 planted avenue-fashion, for protection from 

 wind or sun, along the border of the lands 

 planted with the main crop of the estate. 

 Such palms will, as a rule, yield above the 

 average on account of the room they have to 

 expand on all sides, and their produce will at 

 least help to pay the cost of the up-keep of the 

 road. When planted alone, Mr. Worcester 

 talks of 32 ft. apart, or forty trees only to the 

 acre, but also tells us (speaking, of course, of 

 the Philippines) that in general it may be said 

 that where soil conditions are favourable for 

 catch-crops, actual experience has shown that 

 under good management they can be made to 

 pay approximately the cost of the plantation 

 up to the time the coco-nut trees fruit. We 

 do not altogether gather this from the general 

 remarks, since we are told just above this that 

 " during the fourth, fifth, and sixth years, by 

 the end of which time the trees will have 

 begun to bear, it will be necessary to keep the 

 soil clean, and there will be no returns from 

 catch-crops." Are sufficient profits obtained 

 during the first three years to pay the cost of 

 keeping the land clean ? This cost is esti- 

 mated at $2 to $5 an acre per year = $6 to $15 

 for the three years. According to Mr. H. C. 

 Lamb, Superintendent of the Iwahig Penal 

 Colony, who seems to have had large experi- 



