328 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



the beans up to 18 per cent.; sweet potatoes 

 are also good, as they can be cultivated in deep 

 rows, a good distance away from the coco-nuts 

 themselves. The deep and thorough turning 

 over of the ground which their growing en- 

 tails is highly useful for the ventilation of the 

 neighbouring coco-nut palms, it also brings 

 with it the radical removal of the lalang grass 

 roots. This item alone is worth a great deal, 

 because the lalang is the most noxious weed 

 on the whole plantation, and where it exists 

 in any quantity the efforts in getting rid of it 

 are often very costly. 



With regard to sisal as a possible catch- 

 crop, anyone thinking of planting this article 

 on an extensive scale in conjunction with coco- 

 nuts, or otherwise, should study an article 

 published in German in Der Pflanzer, Nos. 1 7 

 and 1 8, of November, 1910, or the translation 

 by Mr. Pape in Tropical Life, April and May, 

 1912. This deals with the utilization of the 

 waste of Agave rigida var. sisalana, and the 

 possibilities of making alcohol and sugar from 

 the leaf refuse after the fibre content, &c. 

 (about 4 to 8 per cent., leaving at least 92 to 

 96 per cent of refuse to be treated), have been 

 extracted. Hitherto, considerable expense has 

 generally been incurred in removing the refuse 

 to a distance from the factory, where it can no 

 longer create a nuisance. Although not a fatten- 

 ing fodder, cattle in Yucatan, we are told, get 

 no other, whilst the writer of the article claims 



