MISSOURI BOTANICAL, GARDEN BULLETIN 141 



being dried, cleaned, and sorted, it is baled for export. This 

 fiber was the old staple cordage material of the Polynesian 

 region, and is remarkable for its lightness and elasticity, 

 stretching 20-25 per cent without breaking. The finer fibers 

 are used for spinning purposes, cocoanut matting, and brushes, 

 and the coarser material is used as a substitute for horse-hair 

 in upholstery. The dust or refuse is used as a growing 

 medium in forcing bulbs in hot-beds and propagating houses. 

 As much as one ton of coir fiber is obtained from 12,000 

 cocoanuts. 



Propagation. — For propagation purposes cocoanuts should 

 be selected from palms 25-30 years old showing a good yield, 

 and large nuts which have ripened upon the tree and fallen 

 to the ground are best. Seeds picked green and forcibly 

 ripened invariably decay, as do also those filled with milk, 

 the best for germination being those which a.re only half 

 filled. These selected nuts will be viable for twelve months. 

 The seeds are sown in rows in specially prepared seed-beds 

 of sand.y soil and kept constantly moist and under cultivation. 

 Under this treatment they will germinate within three months. 

 The young shoot starts growing from one of the eyes at the 

 rounded end of the nut (pi. 30) and before making its appear- 

 ance has to penetrate the strong fibrous husk. From the seed- 

 beds the strongest seedlings are transplanted into nursery rows 

 spaced 3-6 feet apart. I)uring this operation great care is 

 necessary to prevent the breaking of the attached kernel which 

 consists of reserve food supply for the "young seedling. After 

 three years in the nursery the plants are ready for permanent 

 planting in the plantation, being spaced about 30 feet apart. 

 The average yield under expert care varies from 50 to 75 

 nuts per tree" annually, but it may be as high as 150-200 nuts 

 per tree. 



Cocoanut palms are not grown commercially in the northern 

 states owing to their comparatively slow habit of growth. 

 Specimen plants are seen only in botanic gardens or rare 

 private collections. In Florida and California they are often 

 grown for ornamental purposes. Large numbers have 

 naturalized themselves along the seashores of Miami and Palm 

 Beach where they produce an abundance of fruit, the fallen 

 nuts germinating without attention. If mature nuts are 

 obtained it is possible to raise young plants in greenhouses 

 in this latitude. The nuts should be half embedded in the 

 sand bench of the propagating house where a bottom heat 



