Samoa and New Guinea 131 



of their legs, this is serious, and must be taken 

 into account. Where cattle are not sufficiently 

 numerous to keep down the mimosa, it has to 

 be done by slashing with cutlasses or bush- 

 knives. As regards planting there is still some 

 difference of opinion as to which is the best way, 

 i.e., whether the nut should be planted point 

 down or on its side. On the whole, it certainly 

 appears right to assume that it should be laid 

 on the side. In this way the roots have only to 

 penetrate a very short thickness of the husk 

 before they reach the surface, and it will be 

 observed in the vast majority of cases that the 

 nuts lie on their sides under the trees and not 

 standing on their point. Compare the illustra- 

 tion of a Coco-nut nursery in the Philippines 

 in " Seed Beds and Nurseries," where the nuts 

 seem mostly laid on their side, with the American 

 (on p. 1 10) holding up the nut which has been 

 planted upright. The pointed end appears, 

 therefore, rather as a lever to turn the nut on its 

 side when it reaches the ground, whilst the shift- 

 ing centre of gravity, viz., the milk inside, further 

 helps to lay the nut flat rather than upright. 

 The flat side, on the whole, is evidently the 

 right one, for it affords the quickest and easiest 

 way for the roots emerging from the ger- 

 minating hole to reach the soil, although the 

 upright, growth gives one the idea of forming 

 a more perfectly grown tree. 



Another cause of controversy is whether it 

 is more judicious to plant the nuts right out 



