146 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



way. This is self-evident without any discussion. Un- 

 less feed is purchased for cattle, or secured elsewhere 

 than from the coco-nut plantation, they can return 

 nothing to the soil which did not come from it. There 

 is therefore no opportunity for profit here ; and suppos- 

 ing that their food does come in part from elsewhere, 

 and that therefore they add something to the richness 

 of the soil, it is hardly conceivable that this outside 

 food is obtained for less than its value as fertilizer. In 

 a small and not very important way the fertility of 

 coco-nut groves may be influenced by the use of cattle. 

 They may be kept in corrals or stables, all the time or 

 at night, and in this way their manure may be concen- 

 trated, and then applied to single parts of the grove 

 where it seems to be especially needed. Or the cattle 

 may be tied at night in places where their manure is in 

 demand, or may be tied for days or weeks at a time in 

 certain parts of the grove, and fed there with materials 

 from other parts of the grove or elsewhere. Where the 

 cattle are tied, the ground is fertilized and also cropped 

 closely. It is also likely to be tramped hard, and under 

 some conditions this tramping may seriously injure the 

 soil. As is true of most practices, any attempt to 

 influence the distribution of the manure or the fertilizers 

 in this way must be done with judgment, or it will do 

 more harm than good. In the use of stables, special 

 care must be taken that manure is not allowed to remain 

 in piles for long periods, else it will become a breeding- 

 place for the larvae of the rhinoceros beetles. One large 

 crop of this pest turned loose from the manure heap 

 can do more damage than can be compensated for by 

 the value of the manure. 



The general subject of fertilizers is still to be taken 

 up. With regard to the value of cattle manure, it can 

 be confidently said that it is a good fertilizer ; that 

 under exceptional conditions it is possible to distribute 

 it artificially or by control, and to apply it to points 

 where it is most needed, but that in general such 

 attempts are practicable only on a small scale, and that 



