330 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



the soil it is grown in ; therefore with rubber, 

 those who can afford to establish their estates 

 without interplanting tapioca, score in the 

 end, because the trees yield quicker and more 

 freely when grown alone. 



The lalang grass not only forms tremen- 

 dous root ramifications which owing to their 

 felt-like consistency and thickness do not 

 allow the water to percolate to the coco-nut 

 roots, but in the dry season its dry stalks and 

 leaves offer a most serious danger from fire. 

 In a young plantation, where sufficient care 

 has not been taken to keep it down or to 

 eradicate it, the fires, which are even liable to 

 start spontaneously, are apt to sweep through 

 acres and acres of young growth. It is well- 

 nigh impossible to check such a fire, especially 

 if it is fanned by a high wind, and any young 

 trees, which have not as yet reared their fronds 

 well above the surface of the ground, will be 

 irretrievably destroyed. Even if " fire-lines," 

 i.e., wide roads denuded of grass and other 

 vegetation, have been provided around a 

 plantation, they are not efficient safeguards, 

 as the sparks are apt to fly over them and 

 start a new blaze beyond. Nothing will 

 provide a better or more certain insurance 

 against fire than the total eradication of this 

 pest. In some parts of New Guinea and in 

 the islands to the north-east, the planters have 

 tried, at heavy cost, to grub it up and plough 

 it out ; but ploughing between rows of palms 



