132 



THE AGRICULTUllAL NEWS. 



April 30, 1910. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF 

 THE COCOA-NUT PALM. 



The following information concerning the geograph- 

 ical distribution of the cocoa-nut palm is taken from an 

 article in L' Agriculture Pratique ties Pays Ghaiuls 

 for January 1910: — 



The cocoa-nut palm belongs to the tropical zone. Its 

 place of origin has been fixetl by de Candolle to be the !Malay 

 Archipelago. On account of the numerous uses that can be 

 made of it, its cultivation has received attention for a very 

 long time and its habitat has extended into many ditferent 

 regions in which the climate and soil are .suited to it. This 

 is exemplified by the fact that plantations of this palm have 

 been made to a very large extent on the south coast of the 

 continent of Asia, as well as in the neighbouring islands. 



At the present time, Ceylon appears to be the country 

 which possesses the largest areas devoted to its cultivation, 

 and it is there that the greatest use of its produce is made. 

 Here, too, the industries that are concerned with the prepara- 

 tion of the products that are obtained from it have reached 

 a very high degree of perfection, so much so that it does not 

 appear to have been surpassed by that in any other region. 

 In British India this palm occupies an area that is of relat- 

 ive importance, but one which is nevertheless insufficient to 

 supply the requirements of local consumption. Certain 

 places are noted for the C[uality of the copra that they 

 produce ; this is the case with Travancore and chiefly in the 

 region of Cochin-China, on the south-west coast. 



The plant is found to a fair degree in the French 

 .settlements in India, but the extent is so small that the 

 output of the plantations is not a matter of commercial 

 importance; in fact, a larpe quantity of the produce is 

 consumed where it is grown. A small amount of copra is 

 made in the territory of Mahii, and a little oil in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Karikal. Besides this, since 1903, a factory for 

 cocoa-nut butter (cocotine) has been erected at Pondicherry. 



Singapore is a centre from which large quantities of 

 copra are exported. Cocoa-nut palms are abundant in the 

 British Settlements on the Malacca Straits, especially around 

 Singapore and Poulo-Penang. But as a matter of fact these 

 settlements are large commercial centres, through which pass 

 enormous quaniities of colonial produce. The copra exported 

 from Singapore comes chiefly from Dutch Borneo, from Bali 

 and from the Xatuna and Anainbas Islands. Numerous cocoa- 

 nut palms exist in the French possessions in Indo-China, 



especially in Cochin-China. The Philippine Islands form 

 a very important centre for the production of copra. 

 In the Dutch East Indies, the cocoa-nut palm occupies 

 an important position on account of the natural fertility 

 of the soil; its growth there is rapid, and it is cultivated 

 with little expense. 



In the groups ot islands scattered throughout that part 

 of the Pacific ocean which lies in the tropics, the cocoa-nut 

 palm is generally abundant. Here, near the sea, it forms 

 veritable forests. This is the case to a notable extent in the 

 Samoa Islands, where the greatest care is taken, on the estates 

 under the management of Europeans, to obtain a copra of 

 excellent qualitj'. In New Caledonia, the cocoa-nut palms 

 form a long belt on the east coast, between Canala and 

 Hienghene. The copra which is produced is sold to a large 

 extent in the markets of Sydney. In the same way, the 

 Loyalty Islands produce a large quantity of copra, and the 

 New Hebrides are suited particularly well for the growing of 

 the palm. In the archipelago of Tahiti, cocoa-nut plantations 

 occupy about two-thirds of the cultivated land. The atolls 

 of Tuamotou have only been habitable since the cocoa-nut 

 tree has been introduced there. 



As far as South and Central America and the West 

 Indies are concerned, the total area of cocoa-nut plantations 

 is very large. The products of these find their chief outlet 

 towanl the United States, where considerable quantities 

 of nuts and copra are dealt with. The palm is espec- 

 ially abundant in the North of South America, in 

 Venezuela, in Brazil and in the Guianas, in the ditterent 

 states of Central America, in the Bahamas, in many of 

 the Antilles, notably Jamaica and Trinidad. In the last- 

 named island, the manufacture of cocca-nut oil on a large 

 scale by means of improved methods seems likely to 

 attain a certain development. Although the cultivation of 

 the cocoa-nut palm meets with the same success in the French 

 West Indies as is obtained in the neighbouring countries in 

 which it occupies a large place, it has extended there but 

 little, and, except in the case of Guadeloupe, its products are 

 absorbed by local consumption. 



So far, there are few cocoa-nut plantations on the 

 tropical coasts of Africa, but it has been shown, as a matter 

 of fact, that there is a very marked movement in favour of 

 their establishment, on the west as well as on the east coast. 

 In the Islands of the Indian Ocean adjacent to the continent 

 of Africa, coci la-nut palms are generally numerous, especially in 

 the Islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and in the Seychelles, the 



