172 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



gangs of men are still busy with the cleaning- 

 up operation the drainage question should be 

 taken in hand. The system of drainage 

 to be adopted must be well thought out 

 and expertly conducted. In the majority of 

 cases drainage ditches may not be necessary 

 at all unless very heavy rain-water has to 

 be run off from hill land. Where the ground 

 is sloping and undulating they would serve 

 no purpose, except opening up the ground 

 here and there for testing purposes, and to 

 act as ventilating channels. But where the 

 surface is very level and given to depressions, 

 or where violent discharges of rain occur from 

 time to time and the water must be conducted 

 through the estate, it will be necessary to 

 have facilities to drain it off as quickly as 

 it comes, so that it may not form standing, 

 stagnant pools of long duration, or, worse 

 still, flow over the land and wash down 

 the trees, or break up the ground and 

 carry off valuable surface soil and humus. 

 These floods occur often in the Cochin 

 and Aleppi region of India and in the 

 Southern Coast district of Ceylon. In such 

 places, therefore, all the superfluous water is 

 led by means of ingenious canals into lakes, 

 where it stands confined and away out of 

 reach of the palm cultivations until such time 

 as it is wanted. 



