i6o 



CLEARING AND PREPARING THE 

 LAND. 



BROADLY speaking, there are three varieties 

 of land which come under the consideration of 

 the coco-nut planter when laying out his estate: 

 (i) Grass land; (2) secondary jungle; and 

 (3) virgin forest. The first is naturally the 

 easiest to clear and prepare. It consists as 

 a rule of old abandoned cultivations, and in 

 this case it should be ascertained what the 

 reasons were for deserting it. It often happens 

 that the natives indulge in shifting cultivations ; 

 they do not stick to one piece of ground, but 

 move on after a year or two to fresh ground. 

 They do not understand the art of fertilizing by 

 means of manures, and their exhausting culti- 

 vations therefore force them to shift their fields. 

 It can be seen by the state of the growth of 

 the scrub whether the land has lain fallow long 

 enough to regain its fertility. In the Tropics 

 the decomposition of the herbage and refuse 

 takes place very rapidly, and these give back 

 to the soil most of their nutriment and fertile 

 qualities. Big stretches of lalang or elephant 

 grass should be eschewed. It is a most 

 stubborn thing to eradicate, the roots being 

 very wide-spreading and deep, and if even a 



