X 



THE COCO-NUT 



by being shown with care how the machine responds to 

 the action of various wheels and levers, or he might be 

 taught the principles on which his engine is built, and 

 how these principles are applied in practice. If every- 

 thing runs smoothly, the training by rule and example 

 will be sufficient. But when things go wrong, it will 

 leave him helpless. In the same way, and for the same 

 reason, the coco-nut planter who has been given a good 

 set of rules will be likely to succeed under the conditions 

 to which the rules apply, but will not be qualified to 

 meet changes in conditions. 



This book is written in the Philippines, and may 

 seem to deal to an unreasonable extent with the coco- 

 nut industry of these islands. However, I believe that 

 aside from such purely local information as the cost of 

 labour and supplies, and means of transportation as 

 influencing the markets, it contains everything that a 

 planter anywhere in the tropics has most need of know- 

 ing. The behaviour of the coco-nut is intelligible in the 

 light of the knowledge of its physiology, and surely in 

 no other way ; and the physiology of the tree is the 

 same the world over. The diseases of the coco -nut 

 present a problem which is increasing very rapidly in 

 importance, and to which I have accordingly given par- 

 ticularly thorough treatment. In discussing the culti- 

 vation of the coco-nut and the utilization of its products, 

 I have constantly kept emphatically in view the fact 

 that the subject is of interest only because of its 

 business importance. Every detail in these matters 

 should be put into practice only after mature considera- 

 tion in the light of local conditions, and every decision 

 as to practice must be a business decision. It is not 

 anticipated that the planter or the student will be pro- 

 vided with a business head. It is hoped and believed 

 that the conditions and arguments which should be 

 considered are suggested and discussed sufficiently to 

 qualify each man to decide for himself, at each stage of 

 the business, what he can do with the prospect of most 

 complete success. 



