Last night we were talking about an old time friend when this topic of planting trees came up. My husband had helped that long time friend in planting mango sapling some years back. The 2-hectare farm was being used for grazing of goats so our friend decided to turn it into a sort of mango farm. With my husband as the architect, they charted the spots where the mango saplings would be planted. They brought 30 saplings which cost a lot for some are already 4 feet high. For good measure, my husband brought along a rope that is exactly 10 meters to be used as guide for spacing. It's ironic that the farmer who is the caretaker of the farm was somewhat insulting my husband, asking why the need for the rope when the saplings are very small. That stupid remark was ignored by my husband. And when they came home, my husband had realized why the farmers in the Philippines are stagnant - they do not make plans, so myopic that they only see the present. Planting trees with a spacing of 5 meters will crowd it when the trees grow. That simple.