332 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



For these reasons, whether it be to keep 

 down lalang, or to counteract the financial dis- 

 advantages of the exceptionally long periods 

 of waiting before the plantations can reach the 

 profit-yielding stage, it is therefore desirable to 

 plant catch-crops when they offer benefits in 

 excess of their drawbacks. 



A catch-crop should fulfil the four conditions 

 laid down by Gallagher in his paper on Coffea 

 robusta : It should not injure the main crop: 

 it should yield a harvest as soon as possible : 

 its^ cultivation should not entail any specially 

 skilled labour : the preparation of the products 

 from it should not require the employment of 

 any costly machinery. To these may be added 

 the obvious requirements that the crop should 

 be readily remunerative a condition that is 

 frequently conspicuous by its absence with such 

 of the Eastern crops as gambier, pepper and 

 tapioca, the last named being, in addition, very 

 exhausting to the soil. 



Of all crops available for such purposes it 

 seems probable that Coffea robusta most nearly 

 fulfils the conditions laid down ; soya-beans 

 and ground nuts (Arachis hypogcza) perhaps 

 coming next (see values, p. 17 and at end of 

 book). 



The main advantage possessed by this variety 

 of coffee is, of course, its exceptionally early 

 yield, for a crop of i \ cwt. per acre is usually 

 obtainable within two years of planting this 

 increasing threefold, to 41 cwt, the next year, 

 and threefold again, or to 15 or 17 cwt. per 



