June 1908.] 



541 



Edible Products, 



The oil so returned is without manurial 

 value, and, if left in the seed, is so much 

 money wasted. The rational process, of 

 course, calls for the return of the press 

 cake, either direct or in the form of 

 manure after it has been fed. With this 

 is also secured the hull, rich in both the 

 potash and the phosphoric acid,* whicn 

 we now know is so essential to the future 

 welfare of the grove. 



The above rotation is simply suggest- 

 ed as a tentative expedient. 



The ground will now be so shaded that 

 we cannot hope to raise more catch 

 crops for harvesting, although it may be 

 possible during the dry season to raise 

 a partial stand of pulses, of manure value 

 only ; but, from the fruiting stage on, 

 this becomes a minor consideration. 



This stage of the cultural story brings 

 us once more face to face with the prin- 

 ciple contended for at the beginning of 

 this paper, namely, that there can be no 

 permanent prosperity in this branch of 

 horticulture until the crop is so worked 

 up into its ultimate products, that none 

 of the residue of manufacture goes to 

 waste. 



At best the return of these side pro- 

 ducts is insufficient, and, despite their 

 careful husbandry, we cannot ultimately 

 evade a greater or less resort to inorganic 

 manures of high cost and different pro- 

 curement. 



The residue from the press cake is rich 

 in nitrogen and humus, which, in the 

 ever-increasing shade of the grove, will 

 become more and more difficult to 

 produce there through nitrogen-making 

 agencies ; but the waste from the manu- 

 facture of coir and the ashes from the 

 woody shell will go far toward supplying 

 the needed potash. 



Such a system would, if closely follow- 

 ed, practically restrict the farmer's ult- 

 imate purchases to a small quantity of 

 acid phosphates, or of bone dust, which, 

 in conjunction with good tillage, should 

 serve to maintain the grove in a highly 

 productive condition for an indefinite 

 term of years. 



As an auxiliary manurial agent of 

 definite, well-proven value in this Archi- 

 pelago, I will briefly recite some of the 

 benefits that may be expected to follow 

 occasional irrigation during the dry 

 season. 



It strongly accelerates growth and 

 early maturity. A few irrigated trees, 



* Com. Exp, Sta. Rep.', Part II. 



reputed to be under five years from seed 

 and already bearing fruit, were shown 

 the writer on the Island of Jolo. The 

 growch was remarkably strong and 

 vigorous, notwithstanding that the 

 water of irrgation had been applied in 

 such a way that the tree could only hope 

 to derive a minimum of benefit from its 

 application. It had merely been turned 

 on from a, convenient ditch whenever 

 the soil seemed baked and dry, at inter- 

 vals of one to three weeks, as circum- 

 stances seemed. 



Irrigation, but always in connection 

 with subsequent cultivation, may be 

 considered equal to a crop guaranty that 

 is not afforded so effectually by any 

 purely cultural system. 



Rarely has a better opportunity oc- 

 curred to demonstrate the unquestioned 

 benefits that have inured to these few 

 Jolo trees from the use of irrgating 

 waters than the present season of 1902-03. 

 From many sources reports come to 

 this Bureau of trees failing, or dying 

 outright, from lack of moisture. While 

 it is true that the present dry season has 

 had no parallel since 1885-86, and that 

 the rainfall during the dry season has 

 been less than halt the normal, yet it 

 should not be forgotten that, during the 

 eight mouths from October to May, 

 inclusive, the average precipitation on 

 the west coast, at the latitude of Manila, 

 is only about 460 mm., 'and that, when 

 tne amount falls below this, the coconut 

 is bound to suffer. 



Though it is true that the evil effects 

 of drought may be modified, if not al- 

 together controlled, by cultivation, the 

 assistance of irrigation places the cul- 

 tivator in an impregnable position. If 

 evidence in support of this statement 

 were called for, it might be found to- 

 day in the deplorable condition of those 

 groves that have been permitted to run 

 to pasture, as compared with those in 

 which some attempts have been made 

 to bolo out the encroaching weeds and 

 grasses. 



It is probably true that, except on 

 very sandy soils, continued surface irri- 

 gation would aggravate the superficial 

 root-developing tendency of the tree ; 

 and to what extent, if any, occasional 

 laceration by deep shovel tooth cultiva- 

 tion would injure the tree remaius to 

 be seen. There are. however, few 

 economic plants that so quickly repair 

 root damage as the Palmae, and, unless 

 the seat of injury extends over a very 

 large area, it is probable that the result- 

 ing injury would be of no consequence, 

 as compared with the general benefits 

 that would result from irrigation. 



