DISEASES AND PESTS 79 



the base of the tree, or where steps have been cut in 

 the trunk. The latter cases are comparatively rare but 

 certainly happen. If steps are cut deep enough to 

 expose any soft wood, they furnish a possible place for 

 the beetles to lay their eggs ; therefore they should 

 be cut as shallowly as will serve the purpose, and 

 should not be made within 1^ metres of the 

 height at which the nuts are borne. The first few 

 crops of nuts from a tree should be harvested without 

 cutting any steps, whatever may be done later. Nuts 

 intended for the manufacture of copra or oil would 

 better always be left on the tree until they fall of their 

 own accord. 



The red beetle rarely or never enters a tree through 

 the wounds normally made in cutting down nuts, even 

 if they are cut young for immediate local use. But 

 the careless use of a knife in gathering nuts sometimes 

 results in making wounds in which the eggs can well 

 be laid. 



It was formerly generally believed that the careful 

 removal of all dead matter from the crown, and of all 

 hanging leaves, was an important part of good sanita- 

 tion. Experience has amply shown that such treatment, 

 except in exceptional cases, is a costly blunder. The 

 fibrous leaf-bases, which at first are complete sheaths, 

 are the natural protection of the young, still soft wood, 

 and at first of all the underlying structures which have 

 not yet become woody. Nature is not wasteful. If 

 the fibrous stuff is cut away before it would naturally 

 fall, the tree is deprived of a protection which it needs, 

 and the advantage is given to the beetles. 



Two illustrations of the effect of too much injudicious 

 care have appeared in Ferguson's Coco-nut Planter's 

 Manual ; they are copied here from p. 38 of the fourth 

 edition : 



On one property the trimming system had been carried on 

 for years, till, indeed, more than one-third of the original 

 plants perished, before the estate was ten years old, and they 

 were going at the rate of three trees weekly. The work of 



