Edible Products. 544 



5. There is no other horticultural 

 tropical product which may be grown 

 in these Islands where crop assurance 

 may be so nearly guaranteed, or natural 

 conditions so nearly controlled by the 

 planter who, knowing correct principles, 

 has the facilities for applying them. 



6 The natural enemies and diseases 

 of the plant are relatively few, easily 

 held in check by vigilance and the exer- 

 cise of competent business management. 



7 The labor situation is bound more 

 seriously to affect the small planter, 

 wholly dependent upon hand labor, than 

 the estate conducted on a large enough 

 scale to justify the employment ot 

 modern machinery. 



8. In view of an ever-expanding de- 

 mand for coconut products, and in the 

 light of foregoing conclusions, the in- 

 dustry, when prosecuted upon a con- 

 siderable scale and subject to the require- 

 ments previously set forth, promises tor 

 many years to be one of the most pro- 

 fitable and desirable enterprises which 

 command the attention of the Filipino 

 planter. 



The greatest mine of horticultural 

 wealth which is open to the shrewd 

 planter lies in the heaps of waste and 

 neglected hnsks that he can now procure 

 from adjoining estates for the asking 

 and cartage. 



With labour at 1 peso per diem and at 

 the present price of potash and phos- 

 phoric acid, all the husks in excess of 300 

 per diem which could be hauled would 

 be clear profit. The ashes of these, when 

 burned and applied to the old grove, 

 would have an immediate and revivify- 

 ing influence. 



Many trees iu an old plantation have 

 ceased to bear. Whether this is due to 

 exhaustion from old age or from sou 

 exhaustion is immaterial ; each should 

 be eradicated and the time-honored 

 custom of replanting a fresh, tree in its 

 place abandoned. These renewals are 

 difficult enough in any fruit or nut 

 orchard where the scientific cultural 

 conditions have been ot the best. 

 Renewals in a coconut grove, unless the 

 vacant space is abnormally large and 

 can be subjected to some years of soil 

 improvement are unprofitable. 



There is a wide range of opinion as to 

 the bearing life of a coconut tree. It is 

 Sid to vary from thirty to one hundred 

 and thirtf years. Grown more than 

 forty or possibly fifty years old, the 

 writer would hesitate to undertake the 

 mprovement or renewal of the grove. 



[June 1908. 



Palms, unlike exogenus trees, afford 

 no evidence by which their age may be 

 determined. In general, with advanced 

 years, come great height and great 

 attenuation. In the open, and where fully 

 exposed to atmospheric influences, these 

 form an approximate criterion of age. 

 The so-called annular scars, marking the 

 earlier attachments of leaves, furnish no 

 clue to age. — Department oj the Interior, 

 Philippines But eau of Agriculture, Far- 

 mers' Bulletin No. 8. 



COCONUT SPLITTING FOR COPRA. 



By J. C. Willis, 



In the Hawaiian Islands the natives, 

 instead of first taking off the coir and 

 then splitting the nut, split the whole 

 nut with one blow of a heavy knife and 

 then stand it out in the sun to dry 

 the copra. If sun drying is used, so that 

 space is not a consideration, there 

 seems a good deal to be said for this 

 method. 



THE COCONUT IN SAMOA. 



(Exploitation du Cocotier a Samoa, d' 

 apies "Preuss. Journ. d'Agr. tiop. Mar. 

 1908, abstracted by J. C. Willis,) 



The European plantations, mostly be- 

 longing to the Deutsche Handels und 

 Platagen Gesellschaf t, covered 3,550 

 hectares in 1U06, and had 325,000 palms, 

 while the natives probably had at least 

 700,000 palms. About 9,000 tons of copra 

 are annually exported. 



The cultivation of the coconut is much 

 less intensive than in Ceylon, where 

 labour is more easily obtainable. A 

 circle of about 10 feet in diameter is kept 

 clean round each palm, but a circle of 

 2 feet in diameter is left untouched to 

 prevent destruction of roots by the 

 winds. The palms are planted in 

 general 32x32 feet, though on some 

 plantations 28x28. In young plant- 

 ations manioca, castor-oil, sweet potatoes, 

 chillies &c, are grown as catch crops. 

 In older plantations the laud is given 

 up to pasturage. The Deutsche Handels 

 und Plantagen company has 2,500 head 

 of cattle on 3,000 hectares (1 for 3 acres). 

 Uluk grass is very troublesome, and to 

 check it Passiftora fcetida is sown between 

 the trees. 



