144 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



Except where such exceptional conditions make its 

 adoption necessary, it is not to be recommended. It 

 will in general be more satisfactory, if tenants must 

 be employed at all, to shorten the time that they are 

 promised the use of the land, and to use the necessity 

 of renewing the contract as a means of insuring proper 

 attention to the coco-nuts. 



CARE OF ADULT GROVES 



From the standpoint of the care which it should 

 receive, a grove may be considered to be adult from the 

 time that it ceases to be possible to raise in it catch- 

 crops which require a considerable amount of light. 

 Except where the harvest is concerned, there is no 

 reason for treating differently a grove which has come 

 into bearing, and a grove in which the trees occupy all 

 of the space, but have not quite yet begun to bear. 

 Leaving neglect out of consideration, there are three 

 ways of handling groves whose trees have reached 

 practical maturity. The ground may merely be kept 

 decently clean, or it may be put into pasture, or catch- 

 crops may still be grown. If no attempt is made to 

 get returns from the ground except from the coco-nuts 

 themselves, it must still be given such attention that 

 no weeds can grow up to dispute the space with the 

 coco-nuts, or develop strong root systems. The demands 

 would be satisfied in practice by going over the ground 

 with scythes or knives not oftener than twice a year, 

 and cutting off the vegetation at whatever height is 

 most convenient. In too many places the trees do not 

 receive even this attention. 



The principal reason for taking greater care to keep 

 the grove really clean is one which will be emphasized 

 in discussing the methods of harvest. Where it is 

 customary to cut the nuts from the trees before they 

 become ripe enough to fall off themselves, it is not very 

 difficult to find the nuts after they are on the ground, 

 even though there be considerable vegetation to cover 



