Prospects in Mexico 159 



under them. On no account must pigs be 

 allowed to roam about the estate ; there is only 

 one animal more destructive than they are, and 

 that is a goat. What a goat will do during a 

 Sunday morning stroll in a tropical town or 

 village when the public are absent from the 

 streets does not bear being thought about, and 

 a pig among young cultivations is not much 

 better. 



Regarding the distance at which the palms 

 should be planted (and consequently the area 

 available for grazing), the following extract from 

 the Agricultural Journal, of Queensland, 

 shows that the roots even more than the leaves 

 must at times be taken into consideration ; for 

 whilst the leaves might be satisfied with 30 ft. 

 or 36 ft., the roots cause some planters to set 

 the palms 40 ft. each way. " In view of the 

 divergence of opinion as to the distance apart 

 at which coco-nuts should be planted in order 

 to secure the best results, H. E. Sir William 

 MacGregor requested Mr. T. A. Williams, of 

 Sabai Island, Torres Strait, to furnish him 

 some information on the subject of the diameter 

 of space to which root cords spread out from the 

 base of coco-nut trees, and from the measure- 

 ments made by Mr. Williams it was found that 

 one cord stretched 50 ft. from the base of the 

 tree. This tree was, however, planted at the 

 edge of high -water mark, the root cords exten- 

 ing along at right angles in soft, sandy loam." 



