311 



and note how thick the Mesh is. Do not always choose the big-looking 

 nuts, as they may have a very large husk and yet he small in the nut 

 proper. Take no nuts from yellow-looking trees. The dark-green trees 

 are the best. 



Having gathered all the seed nuts required, make a nursery, 

 hoeing up the ground to a depth of about 1 foot, and removing all 

 weeds. In setting the seed coconut cover about two-thirds of it, 

 laying it at an angle of about 45 degrees in the earth, covering lightly 

 with leaves. When the young trees have reached a height of 12 or 

 18 inches transplant to the plantation, being careful to pick out all the 

 healthiest and to condemn the weak ones. This will be in about three 

 months after the setting in the nursery. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that it is advisable to get the 

 nursery going early, so as to be ready to plant out when land has been 

 cleared and got ready to receive the young plants. No time is, there- 

 fore, lost by this arrangement. Advantage should always be taken of 

 a downpour of rain, and planting out should be undertaken immediate- 

 ly the ground is sufficiently moistened. 



In planting, a sharp knife should be used in order to slice the 

 roots oft' close to the husk. Holes should be dug about 2 feet in depth 

 and 2 feet in diameter, and the nut planted therein about 9 inches 

 below 7 the surface, a filling of 9 inches of surface mould being placed at 

 the bottom of the hole. The nut should then be completely covered. 

 Keep a ring of about 12 feet in diameter around each plant, and the 

 intervening ground well hoed and free from weeds, because the roots 

 require a great deal of air and light during the first three years of the 

 plant's existence. 



The lining out of nuts should be done carefully, so that the trees 

 are in line both horizontally and traversely, and so that they are not 

 more than 30 feet apart. No other trees should be planted in between. 

 Some planters have planted 33 feet apart, and are now putting rubber 

 between the rows. This is considered a mistake, as both classes take 

 a great deal out of the ground, and as they attain to maturity their 

 roots will become interlocked. Thus they will be fighting for supremacy 

 beneath the surface, and are bound to cripple each other in the long 

 run. If it is desired to cultivate both classes of trees, Mr. Schroder's 

 advice is to strictly plant them apart. 



Insect Pests. 



Beetles will, of course, be found on every plantation, however well 

 kept it may be; but the clearing of the land of all dead timber will 

 make the number very much less than if the logs were left to rot away 

 on the ground. More beetles have been found in the cocoanut-trees 

 planted on the outskirts of a plantation where the bush is rubbing 

 shoulders, so to speak, than in the plantation itself, whence all dead 

 timber has been removed. 



There are several kinds of beetles inimical to coconuts. The big 

 "Rhinoceros" species seems to do more damage. This beetle grows 

 to a length of 2 inches and a girth of 1 inch. It burrows a way 

 through the young trees right into the soft heart. It does not require 

 much imagination to estimate the damage this pest can cause. The 



