466 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



The question of manuring is a very important 

 one, and the experience so far recorded seems 

 to vary considerably. In my opinion there are 

 two points which should not be lost sight of. 

 The first is, that chemical manures should not 

 be applied wholesale over an entire plantation, 

 but only to those trees which do not bear a 

 satisfactory number of nuts without it. The 

 second point is, that only sufficient manure 

 should be applied to such trees as will make 

 them produce a satisfactory number of nuts 

 without any unnatural exertion. There is a 

 very great difference between manuring cereals 

 and manuring trees. In the former case you 

 manure the soil to obtain certain desired 

 results within a comparatively short time, after 

 which the plant dies. In the latter case you 

 apply the manure to plants which may go on 

 bearing for upwards of a hundred years. 

 There is no doubt about it that you can 

 increase the productive powers of the tree 

 very considerably, but it is at the cost of cur- 

 tailing the period during which they, under 

 natural conditions, would continue to bear nuts. 

 My opinion is that, when trees look healthy and 

 bear satisfactorily in a natural way, they should 

 be left alone and not encouraged to unnaturally 

 large productiveness by artificial means. These 

 latter may be applied to trees which actually 

 require them in order to become productive 

 at all. 



I once experimented with a couple of young 



