262 



be stated that a plantation of this degenerate sort is rather a 

 source of loss than gain to the owner. 



The period of usefulness of a coco-nut or an areca-nut tree de- 

 pends as much upon the depth of the pit in which the seedling is 

 lirst planted as upon other conditions, such as the nature of the soil 

 and the amount of attention bestowed upon it. That, to ensure a long 

 period of growth and usefulness the pit must be sufficiently deep has 

 been proved by the experience of planters and observations of the 

 growth of the tree itself. As the tree gets older it sends out roots 

 nearer and nearer the surface of the soil and eventually some of 

 them appear above it in the air. The lowest roots decaying as the 

 superficial ones appear, the tree gradually comes to depend, for 

 its support and sustenance, upon the latter and consequently gets 

 weaker and less able to withstand wind. Nature, however, tries 

 to make up this weakness by sending out a larger number of roots, 

 mostly aerial, which are but bad substitutes for sub-soil ones. As 

 a rule the appearance of aerial roots in a coco-nut or an areca-nut 

 tree marks the beginning of its decline which will steadily conti- 

 nue unless the tree is rejuvenated either by raising the level of the 

 land by deposition of earth or by lowering the tree bodilv into a 

 deep pit dug close by, a process attended with great difficulty and 

 risk. A shallow pit, therefore, means short life to the tree. 



But in low-lying lands in the Island there is cold stagnant water 

 below near the surface which would surely injure the roots of the 

 seedling if care is not taken to plant it sufficiently above the level 

 of water, and shallow pits in these cases become a necessity, 

 and can only be avoided by continuing to get the level of the water 

 lowered considerably below the surface of soil by draining the land. 

 A system of drainage has been adopted with marvellous success 

 along the Malabar coast of India (probably elsewhere also) where 

 many hundreds of acres of waste marshy lands have within recent 

 years been converted into valuable coco-nut plantations. Tliis 

 process consists in dividing the land into wide trenches and ridges, 

 the latter being about fifteen feet (15') apart from centre to centre 

 and in a direction suited to the natural fall of the land. The 

 height of these ridges can be made to vary according to the level 

 of water in the soil ; but even lands that are covered with water 

 during the wet season of the year would not require more than 

 three (3') feet of earth in embankment. The minimum width of 

 the ridges I have seen is about three feet (3') at top. It is im- 

 portant to note that for the formation of these ridges no earth is 

 brought to the land from outside, but is taken from excavations on 

 either side. On the top of the ridge seedlings are planted in pits 

 as deep as possible. To afford protection to the young plants and 

 for the sake of quick returns the intervening space can be utilised 

 either for cultivating plantains or for raising kitchen vegetables. 

 The alternate shallow ponds of water are serviceable, especially in 

 the hands of Chinamen, for rearing ducks or growing roots for 



Drainage of this kind is no doubt beneficial to marshy land either 

 sandy or loamy in nature, and though scarcity of labour and high 



