338 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



the profit accruing from them as a side line, 

 the cattle quicken the productive period as 

 well as increase the yield when the palms have 

 reached the bearing age. The cost of the 

 cattle, of course, has to be taken into con- 

 sideration, but in some places they are com- 

 paratively cheap. 1 In Trinidad, in the West 

 Indies, for instance, we would tell you that 

 with care and tact you could buy the half- 

 wild Venezuelan cattle very cheaply, and bring 

 them down from the mainland, by the boats 

 plying regularly between the two centres, to 

 your Trinidad estates to improve their weight 

 and breed, and become eligible even for ship- 

 ment to England, America, and elsewhere, 

 where the retail price for meat has risen of late 

 years to such an extent that all classes, except 

 the really wealthy, who are comparatively few 

 in number, are being seriously inconvenienced. 

 Meat may be only one kind of food, but it is 

 certain that if it fluctuates in price, other 

 foods would follow more or less in sympathy ; 

 and in any case increased supplies would 

 always sell well here if the quality was good 

 enough. We maintain, therefore, that any 

 estate, be it owned by one individual or by a 

 company or syndicate, thinking of taking up 

 coco-nut planting on a large scale, should 

 seriously consider the whole question of 

 running, let us call it, a cattle ranch and a 



1 See Mexican section, p. '155, Philippine Estimates, 

 P- 95- 



