134 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



being far too closely planted ; with more room 

 they could be made to yield much better, and 

 for this reason should be thinned out ; but this 

 cannot always be carried out without serious 

 objection on the part of the owners, and in any 

 case it is best to plant wider at the start and 

 so avoid having to thin out later on. The 

 growth of the palms seems to be slower in 

 Samoa than on the Coral Isles of the Pacific, but 

 the foliage (in Samoa) is much more ample and 

 vigorous, the tree bears longer and attains a 

 greater age whilst still maintaining its yield, 

 so much so that many vigorous palms are to 

 be met with that, it is claimed, have proved 

 to be at least a hundred years old. 



Under the most favourable conditions the 

 flowering in Samoa may commence in the 

 fourth and the fruiting in the fifth year. The 

 average age, however, for bearing cannot be 

 given as before the seventh year, with an 

 increasing annual output up to the fifteenth 

 and even up to the twentieth year, but full 

 maturity is generally counted as from about the 

 fifteenth year. No careful planter calculates 

 on returns too soon, and so to save disappoint- 

 ment he will figure out one hundred trees per 

 hectare, and for yield of copra as follows : 

 In the seventh year T \j ton, in the eighth 

 year ^ ton, in the ninth year ^ ton, in the 

 tenth year J ton, in the eleventh year f ton, in 

 the twelfth year ^ ton, in the thirteenth year 

 f ton, in the fourteenth year f ton. Under 



