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FIELD CULTURE 



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them up. Some nuts are, of course, lost, but not many. 

 It will be shown, however, that for various reasons it is 

 a better practice to permit the nuts to ripen on the tree, 

 and to fall when fully matured. When this is done, it is 

 necessary to keep the vegetation between the trees cut 

 very close to the ground, as otherwise many of the nuts 

 will never be collected. 



If the grove is kept in such condition that all nuts 

 on the ground can easily be found at any time, there is 

 no reason, from the standpoint of the coco-nuts, nor any 

 general reason on grounds of good farm practice, why it 

 should not serve at the same time as pasture. In almost 

 any part of the world, if the vegetation is steadily kept 

 cut so close to the ground that a coco-nut could not be 

 hidden, in time the weeds and woody plants, and even 

 the coarser grasses, will gradually be killed off, and their 

 places will be taken by more succulent grasses ; and 

 these can be kept cut close to the ground much more 

 cheaply by the use of cattle than by the use of knives. 

 Kept on the plantation in such numbers as the rate of 

 growth of the pasturage will justify, cattle therefore 

 will perform a useful service in keeping the plantation 

 in neat condition. 



In young groves the use of such catch-crops as have 

 already been discussed becomes impossible after three 

 or four years, the time depending on the growth of the 

 coco-nuts. From this time on, if the trees are all equally 

 advanced, cattle may with advantage be turned into- 

 the coco-nut groves for pasture. It is not, however, 

 practicable to use them to keep the grove in good 

 condition while the trees are younger than this, because, 

 however well fed the cattle may be, they are sure to 

 tear the coco-nut's leaves if the latter are within their 

 reach. 



A great deal has been written regarding the fertilizing 

 value of the manure of the animals turned into the 

 coco - nut groves. Some of the most involved and 

 prolonged discussions come to the conclusion that at 

 the best cattle cannot be made to pay a profit in this 



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