II 



CLIMATE AND SOIL 



27 



country, and the rainfall which falls on this higher 

 country sinks into the soil and then moves in the soil 

 toward the sea, carrying with it food which it dissolves 

 as it moves. In time of drought, the amount of such 

 water naturally decreases, but the seashore itself, being 

 the place where such water necessarily comes close to 

 the surface of the ground, is the last place to suffer 

 from the scarcity of it. So long as there is enough 

 water in the soil anywhere back of the beach to permit 

 it to move through the ground, the beach itself will 

 contain ample available fresh water, and in general the 

 less of this water there is the richer it is in dissolved 

 food. Beaches which have lagoons at the back of them 

 instead of high grounds do not in general show an 

 especially vigorous development of coco-nuts. 



Since it is moving water in the ground which is 

 primarily responsible for the high development of 

 coco-nuts on seashores it follows that other situations 

 which likewise have constant moving water in the soil 

 furnish excellent conditions for coco-nut culture. Thus 

 plains sloping upward from the sea, even for great 

 distances, are good coco-nut country so long as there 

 is still higher ground back of them from which they can 

 derive a constant supply of soil water. The country 

 around the bases of mountains, whether near the sea or 

 far removed from it, is therefore good coco-nut country. 

 One of the largest coco-nut forests in the world is 

 situated in this way surrounding Mount Banahao. In 

 this district, with only a few breaks between groves, 

 there are more than ten million bearing trees. The 

 country around the foot of an old volcano is more 

 certain to be suitable than that at the foot of mountains 

 of other origin, because the volcano is usually porous. 

 The water which falls upon it sinks into the volcanoes 

 more than it does into ordinary mountain ranges, and 

 comes back to the surface, well-charged with dissolved 

 food, at lower levels. Old volcanoes usually have great 

 springs surrounding their bases. From the highest zone 

 at which these springs appear downward, the land 



