136 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



than they would if they had all the ground to themselves, 

 but were not helped to reach their food. 



The labour problem will often make the use of 

 catch - crops on plantations of any size impossible. 

 Where the supply of labour is too limited — and it is 

 more or less limited in all places — the attention put 

 upon the catch-crops must result in interference with 

 the extension of the planting of coco-nuts. For there is 

 no catch-crop, even among those which demand the 

 least care, which can be handled without the use of 

 considerably more labour than is needed to keep the 

 coco-nuts themselves in such conditions that their 

 growth will be satisfactory. Catch - crops will also 

 require the care of the manager, and on plantations of 

 any considerable size, the attention of the manager can 

 usually be better devoted to the promotion of the coco- 

 nut culture alone. 



Assuming, then, first, that catch-crops will not be 

 used, the thing to be done for the coco-nuts is merely to 

 see that they have a decent chance to grow, both in the 

 air and in the ground. Coco-nuts themselves do not 

 demand much cultivation of the ground, and except in 

 places where there are decidedly dry seasons what 

 cultivation there is must be quite superficial. On 

 light soil it is the general practice, and probably good 

 practice, to be contented with merely keeping the 

 surface clean. On soil which is very heavy or which 

 is inclined to crack, a little surface cultivation should 

 be given if labour is cheap enough to make it practicable. 



Concerning the cleaning of the soil, it is necessary 

 to see that other plants do not interfere with the 

 supply of light for the coco-nuts, and that the other 

 vegetation around the trees is not thick or close enough 

 for its roots to interfere with the roots of the coco-nuts. 

 For some time after transplanting, a space of at least 

 50 centimetres around the nuts should be kept so 

 short as not to shade the coco-nuts at all. The best 

 plan is that for a metre or more around each tree, 

 the vegetation should be cut as near the ground as is 



