COOK—THE COCONUT PALM IN AMERICA, 837 
An adequate test of the possibilities of the coconut palm in 
California and Arizona can not be made by planting commercial 
nuts raised on tropical seacoasts. Except in South America, all 
the attempts to grow coconut palms in interior localities have 
probably been made with varieties brought in from neighboring 
coasts. It is something to know that the maritime varieties are 
able to grow away from the sea, but it is not at all to be expected that 
such varieties will represent the best possibilities of the species in 
subtropical localities away from the seacoast. 
To rely upon maritime varieties for an experiment in the United 
States would be the same as to expect hothouse varieties of grapes 
or lettuce to excel in tests of hardiness. If an effort is to be made 
to establish the coconut in California, it should be based upon the 
study and introduction of the varicties that have shown their ability 
to thrive in the dry interior valleys and plateaus of South America, 
and especially the varieties that are able to withstand the most 
extreme conditions of drought and cold. In tropical countries the 
climatic conditions often differ greatly, even within very short. dis- 
tances. One valley or mountain slope may have a very prolonged 
dry season and wide extremes of temperature, while the next may 
have equable temperatures and relatively continuous humidity. 
Plants with large, heavy seeds are likely, in their natural state, to be 
confined to very limited districts, and this is to be expected of the 
wild stock or the native varieties of the coconut if any have survived 
in the original home of the species. 
It seems strange that the numerous maritime varieties of the 
coconut which exist in the East Indies have never been introduced 
and tested in the West Indies or in southern Florida. They may 
be expected to differ quite as much in hardiness and earliness of 
bearing as in the characteristics of the nuts. Hardier or earlier 
coconuts would have a distinct value in southern Florida, since it 
would permit a more northern extension of the planting of coconuts, 
which is now confined to the keys and to the southern shores of the 
peninsula, 
Conditions favorable for the coconut palm may also be found in 
interior localities of Palestine and Upper Egypt. In the coast 
districts where the summer climate is dominated by cool winds from 
the Mediterranean the heat requirements would not be met, but the 
interior valleys afford many sheltered places with tropical tempera- 
tures in summer and free from frost in winter. The soil requirements 
must be considered, of course, as well as the climate, but experiments 
might be well worth the making. 
It is said that coconuts were germinated some years ago a few 
miles below Cairo, but the garden was abandoned and the young 
palms allowed to die for lack of water. Though royal palms and 
