July 1, 1901.J 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." 
to follow in the old-fashioned ways, the old 
"Jig-Jog" of their parents, while the school 
teacher has to do all he can to preveut their 
absence from school. But what little is learnt 
in the school is soon forgotten, and that little 
is of small service to the rustic. No difference 
is made between the teaching in town knd iu 
country schools in the midst of agricultural 
districts. Nothing is done to meet the difficulties 
in which the people of these latter districts 
are placed. The system of teaching and the 
curriculum laid down by educational authorities 
are undoubtedly good, but so far as our country 
districts are concerned, arc susceptible of much 
improvement, as the curriculum is more applicable 
to town children. What is desired is an education 
in our country schools by which children may 
be instructed in such matters as have a bearing 
on their every day life. The writer suggests 
the introduction of a series of Agricultural 
Readers, forming a continuous upward course of 
instruction. These, he says, would be of great 
value, while being attractive and interesting. 
Again, the writer, recommends object lessons and 
cultivated school plots for the teaching and practical 
illustration of the rudiments and elementary science 
of agriculture. It is also suggested that prizes 
should be offered for the best-kept home or school 
garden and for essays on subjects of agricultural 
and rural importance. Though he is ready to admit 
that he may not have hit upon the best methods 
of teaching, he believes that the general out- 
lines he has traced would be most suitablle for 
the children's calling in after life. It will no 
doubt be stated by those engaged in teaching 
and those connected with the educational staff 
that there is no room for teaching agricultural 
subjects, the daily routine of work being 
already crowded and the teacher's time taxed to the 
utmost. Granted, but are there not some subjects 
that could be easily dispensed with in country 
schools, especially during the later years of school 
life when the system of practical instruction 
should take the foremost place in the curriculum ? 
One of England's greatest statesmen is quoted 
to have said that "the successful pursuit of 
Agriculture demands the exercise of a broader 
intelligence than any other calling." But do our 
educational arbiters recognise this fact at all ? 
COCONUTS. 
The Benefits of Mulching.— lAr. J. T. Last, 
F.B.C.S. writes as follows upon the benefits of 
cultivation as he has found them at Mangapwani : 
— " There are at Mangapwani about 300 bearing 
palms from which the nuts are gathered every 
three months. About three years ago I had the 
ground well dug up for some six feet round the 
base of each tree, and then packed round the tree 
any manure, grass or vegetable matter I could 
get, coifering the same up with soil. This has 
been repeated every year. The result of these 
operations is that the number of nuts gathered has 
greatly increased. 
Yield of Nuts. — Formerly the three-monthly 
gathering would average about 3,000 nuts, now 
more than double that amount is obtained, The 
last gathering reached the number of 7,033- 
Since I started mulching the trees there have 
always been one or more trees at each three- 
monthly gathering from which I obtained 100 
nuts. At this gathering 110 nuts were gathered 
from one tree, 100 from two, 91 frou. cne, 89 
from one, 86 from one, and 80 fiom one, makiug 
a total of 656 nuts from seven (r^es, 
I think, judging from the above results, we 
could fairly expect that with proper at tention a 
healthy full-grown coconut tree will produce 100 
nuts a year. 
Cocojiuts in Zanzibar. — The average yield of 
nuts in Zanzibar Island is from 25 to 30 per tree. 
Calculating the price at Rs. 20 per 1,000 and the 
yield at 30, there will be a gross return of 9^ 
annas per tree. Gathering may be set down at 
Rs. 4 per 1,000, which leaves a net return of 
about 7^ auuas or half a rupee per tree. 
Pemba trees yield less, the average being prob- 
ably less than 15 nuts per tree per annum. But 
labour is cheaper and cost of gathering less, abcut 
Rs. 3 per 1,000 ; so that the net return works 
out about 4^ annas per tree. 
Planting Nuts. — Dr. Krapf in his Swahili 
Dictionary has the following note : — The natives 
plant the coconut on the l4th day of the moon, 
because the moon is then at her full power. 
This takes place before the rain. They take ;are 
that the bud is placed downwards in the pit 
which is dug to the depth of a cubit. The tree 
(like the mango) requires five years' growth before 
it bears fruit. 
The generally accepted way of planting a nut is 
to lay it on its side in a trench about 7-8 inches 
deep (its own depth.) It has been rightly pointed 
out that if a nut be planted eyes downwards, the 
young shoot may rot before it reaches the surface; 
on the other hand if planted eyes upwards the 
milk inside, which is especially provided for the 
first nourishment of the germ, will settle at the 
bottom of the nut and the young shoot will then 
run a risk of being dried up. Nature seems to 
have especially pointed both ends of the nut so 
that having fallen from the tree it shall remain 
upon its side to germinate. In the case of the 
mangrove the young seedling drops from the 
parent tree upon its pointed end anl sticks in the 
mud and grows forthwith. But the bottom of the 
coconut could not have been pointed to enable it 
likewise to stick in the sand and germinate, 
because a nut always falls upon its side. This is 
well shown by dropping a few nuts from the roof 
of a high house. If the nut is suspended by the 
stalk, in the way it hangs upon a tree, and 
dropped, it will turn half over and fall sideways. 
Tlie same thing happens if the nut be held upside 
down. If it be held horizontally it will maintain 
this position till it reaches the ground. Nature is 
always a safe guide. Allow a space of nine 
inches or a foot between the nuts in the trench, 
and 18 inches between the trenches. This gives 
plenty of room to lift the nuts when the time comes 
'for them to be planted out, without doing much 
damage to the roots. April is the best time to 
plant out the seedlings, when they should be 5 or 
6 months old. Hence the nuts should be planted 
in the nursery in November. But no hard and 
fast rule need be laid down, especially as our 
