242 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



have stood in the way of its use so long. It was 

 very interesting to read in your columns re- 

 cently that a new explosive will be shortly placed 

 in the market, called "Ergite," which will be 

 safe to handle, cheap and effective. I predict 

 for it extended use and a bright future if it 

 possesses all the qualities claimed for it. 



Deep cultivation of the soil, especially for 

 coconut cultivation, is a recognised need. For 

 the successful cultivation ot coconuts, the soil 

 should have large reserves of moisture for the 

 roots to draw upon, especially during periods of 

 drought. I have always advocated catch-water 

 drains cut on a system, and a thorough culti- 

 vation of the soil on hard soils, so that as 

 much as possible of the rain water that falls in 

 them may be absorbed and stored for future 

 use. Planters well know the difficulty in get- 

 ting a hard soil cultivated to an appreciable 

 depth and its high cost. If this can be done 

 more cheaply with "Ergite," its effectiveness 

 is beyond question ; planters will use it largely. 



Of course everyone will understand that ex- 

 plosions should not take place too near the 

 coconut tree. Holes for the reception of the 

 "Ergite" cartridges can be easily made with 

 alavaugus ; or, where the soil is very hard, 

 with steel jumpers, driven as deep as is neces- 

 sary with heavy hammers. The distance apart 

 of the drills will have to be determined by ex- 

 periment. That is, it will have to be found out 

 to what distance laterally each explosion will 

 break up soil of different degrees of hardness. 



I earnestly recommend those who have coco- 

 nuts growing in hard gravel or cabook, to ex- 

 periment on, say, 10 acres of the hardest and 

 worst soil, and carefully to note results. — Yours 

 faithfully, 



B. 



it 



(To the Editor, Financial Times.) 

 Sir, — Your correspondent's article on "Inland 

 Planting of Coconuts" in your issue of 18th 

 June opens up a very wide and interesting sub- 

 ject, also one that I imagine is likely to come 

 under discussion more and more as the difficul- 

 ties of obtaining suitable land near the seashore 

 become greater. I would much like to see the 

 region of cooonut culture extended from the 

 coast to the inland districts, and quite agree in 

 the main with the writer of the artiole, although 

 1 do not know what "halophytio tendencies" 

 are. The growth of the trees, the colour of the 

 leaves and area of leaf surface are governed to a 

 very large extent by the water supply. Surface 

 drainage requires more attention than subsoil 



drainage from my observations, though, of 

 course, the latter is of special importance also. 

 I believe your correspondent to be perfectly 

 sound in his views when he states that the 

 chemically richei' soils inland should really con- 

 duce to the greater productivity of nuts, but it 

 appears to me to be of special benefit to the 

 tree to be exposed as much as possible to wind, 

 and to intense illumination. Having regard to 

 this fact, therefore, it is not surprising that the 

 natural habitat of the coconut palm should be 

 close to the seashore. 



It must be remembered, too, that the fruits 

 it bear6 are too large to be satisfactorily dealt 

 with by means other than water transport ; on 

 the other hand, the fact of being able to create 

 conditions more favourable than is usually known 

 to occur in Nature is more true perhaps as re- 

 gards the coconut than it is of any other form of 

 cultivation, and I am bold enough to affirm that 

 there is uo tree or plant that responds so grate- 

 fully to the treatment given to it. Although 

 the figures quoted by your correspondent have a 

 certain amount of interest, I think that, gene- 

 rally speaking, they are to some extent lacking 

 in value, because when we come to the ques- 

 tion of "transpiration" and "illumination" 

 which are acknowledged factors to be reckoned 

 with by those seriously interested in coconut 

 cultivation from an economic standpoint, the 

 laying out of an estate with 70 trees to the acre 

 would only tend to militate in most cases against 

 these all-important factors, but I agree with him 

 that the yield in quality — i.e., outturn from nuts 

 to copra — will be just as good from inland trees 

 as from those on the seashore. If necessary, I 

 could produce analyses to prove this point. The 

 underground water treatment that he speaks of 

 has a great deal to do with the heavy yields, but 

 little, I think, with the size of the nut or kernel. 

 There is no doubt in my mind that certain iu- 

 land soils if properly treated should yield any in- 

 vestor a very handsome return, although he may 

 have to wait a little longer for the first crop. 

 The land, of course, should be well chosen with 

 special regard to accessibility and easy transport. 

 It has been proved to ray satisfaction a fallacy 

 to suppose that salt water from the sea has any 

 influence worth talking about on the trees in its 

 vicinity. The actual porosity of the soil no doubt 

 has, and it is generally considered that the poro- 

 sity of the soil is greater near the sea than in- 

 land. — I am, &c, 



Robt. W. Mu>ro. 

 Banting, Selangor, F.M.S., 24th July. 

 —Financial Times, Aug. 20. 



