2 6 2 
be stated that a plantation of this degenerate sort is rather a 
source of loss than gain to the owner. 
The period of usefulness of a coco-nut or an areca-nut tree de- 
pends as much upon the depth of the pit in which the seedling is 
iirst planted as upon other conditions, such as the nature of the soil 
and the amount of attention bestowed upon it. That, to ensure a long 
period of growth and usefulness the pit must be sufficiently deep has 
been proved bv the experience of planters and observations of the 
growth of the tree itself. As the tree gets older it sends out roots 
nearer and nearer the surface of the soil and eventually some of 
them appear above it in the air. The lowest roots decaying as the 
superficial ones appear, the tree gradually comes to depend, for 
its support and sustenance, upon the latter and consequently o-ets 
weaker and less able to withstand wind. Nature, however, tries 
to make up this weakness by sending out a larger number of roots, 
mostly aerial, which are but' bad substitutes for sub-soil ones. As 
a rule the appearance of aerial roots in a coco-nut or an areca-nut 
tree marks the beginning of its decline which will steadily conti- 
nue unless the tree is rejuvenated either by raising the level of the 
land by deposition of earth or by lowering the tree bodily into a 
deep pit dug close by, a process attended with great difficulty and 
risk. A shallow pit, therefore, means short life to the tree. 
But in low-lying lands in the Island there is cold stagnant water 
below near the surface which would surely injure the roots of the 
seedling if care is not taken to plant it sufficiently above the level 
of water, and shallow pits in these cases become a necessity, 
and can only be avoided by continuing to get the level of the water 
lowered considerably below the surface of soil by draining the land. 
A system of drainage has been adopted with marvellous success 
alongAhe Malabar coast of India (probably elsewhere also) where 
many’hundreds of acres of waste marshy lands have within recent 
years been converted into valuable coco-nut plantations. This 
process consists in dividing the land into wide tren'ches and ridges 
the latter being about fifteen feet (15') apart from centre to centre 
and in a direction suited to the natural fall of the 1 and. The 
height of these ridges can be made to vary according to the level 
of water in the soil; but even lands that are covered with water 
during the wet season of the year would not require more than 
three (3') feet of earth in embankment. The minimum width of 
the ridges I have seen is about three feet (3') at top. It is im- 
portant to note that for the formation of these ridges no earth is 
brought to the land from outside, but is taken from excavations on 
either side. On the t< >p of the ridge seedlings are planted in pits 
as deep as possible. To afford protection to the young plants and 
for the sake of quick returns the intervening space can be utilised 
either for cultivating plantains or for raising kitchen vegetables. 
The alternate shallow ponds of water are serviceable, especially in 
the hands of Chinamen, for rearing ducks or growing roots for 
pigs. _ 
Drainage of this kind is no doubt beneficial to marshy land either 
sandy or loamy in nature, and though scarcity of labour and hicffi 
b 
