376 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[November i, 1884. 



very powerful purgative oil used in very small doses and 

 in exceptioual cases. Increased supply will bring down 

 the present high prices. As for arnatto, the cost of detach- 

 ing the seed from the outer covering is very large and 

 will swallow a large portion of the profit. 



Amongst the enemies of the coconut tree, the wild pig 

 has the first place. Not only because he is the most de- 

 structive to a young plantation I suppose, but because he 

 is about the earliest enemy the plant has to contend 

 against. "White ants come next, and their ravages are 

 simultaneous with those of pigs. Arsenic is said to be the 

 best preventative, and the difficulty of applying it in minute 

 doses is supposed to be overcome by filling a tub with 

 water and adding a quarter pound sugar and two grains 

 arsenic for every gallon of water, and Hour sufficient to make 

 the mixture assume the consistency of whitewash. Each 

 plant is to be dipped in the mixture, it, being stirred the 

 while, and left in the sun for the outer coating to dry. 

 The white ant, it is believed, caunot get at the nut without 

 partaking the arsenic. It is here assumed that the coat- 

 ing of the mixture will resist the action of water, for, be 

 it remembered, that planting usually is done in the S. "W. 

 rains. If arsenic be soluble in water, I am inclined to think 

 the mixture will be more effective without the sugar aud 

 flour, and if the plants, i.e., the husk, be allowed to imbibe 

 a portion of the mixture. I have heard alum mentioned 

 as a specific for white ants. If the plants are allowed to 

 imbibe alum and water with a dash of kerosine it may be 

 good. To those with coconut plantations on the sea-borde, 

 I would suggest the trial of a plan of a neighbour of mine. 

 He filled a tub with sea-water and dipped his plants in it 

 for twelve hours I believe. The remedy has the merit of 

 possessing mammal value as well. Cattle, as an enemy, 

 comes next in order, and is, I think, as destructive as any 

 enemy, when it pulls out the toothsome cabbage or heart 

 of the plant for a dainty mouthful. There is an end of 

 the plant after that. Black beetle come next, but it is, 

 I believe, seldom or never that a plant succumbs to its 

 attack. It is usually fished out with a barbed wire; but 

 for its extermination the heroic remedy of hunting every 

 " dunghill, every accumulation of decayed vegetable matter 

 or rotten tree " is suggested. This will involve a never- 

 ending, aud therefore very expensive, hunt, with very dubi- 

 ous results. The last and least in size, though not in its 

 destructive powers, comes the red bettle. It is placed last 

 on the list because it is perhaps the enemy of the mature 

 more than the young tree. It is said to have no alimentary 

 apparatus in its perfect state, its sole business then being pro- 

 pagation. It deposits its eggs wherever it finds a slit in 

 the stem of the coconut tree. The resulting grubs work 

 their way into the heart of the tree. This work of de- 

 struction done, and when the term of existence as a grub 

 is drawing to a close, they withdraw near the rind and 

 envelope themselves in a cocoon made of that part of the 

 tree they have destroyed, and await transformation. We 

 are told that the coconut tree is in danger of this enemy 

 from the time it perfects a stem till it commences to bear, 

 although I have had trees attacked long after they have 

 commenced to bear fruit and yield crops. The cause gener- 

 ally is traced to the desire of planters to trim their trees 

 to give them a decent appearance. This necessitates the 

 pulling-off of all decayed branches and the exposure of 

 the tender stem to the. sun, which causes it to split, and 

 there the beetle lays its eggs. Occasionally a tree is said 

 to be lost from an accidental wound or a defect in the 

 arrangement of its leaves. Observation has inclined me 

 to the belief that the beetle does not, as a rule, go from 

 tree to tree seeking an accidental wound or a slit in the 

 tender stem where it may lay its eggs. If such a spot be 

 found, it will no doubt be readily used by the beetle as 

 a depository for its eggs, and save itself the trouble of 

 forming one, which it invariably does. There is no remedy, 

 we are told, for an attacked tree but to destroy it with fire. 

 This is generally true, but occasionally a tree can be saved 

 by cutting out a hole in the hollowed part of the tree, 

 scooping out what has been destroyed with all the grubs 

 and beetles it contains, and burning in the hollowed part 

 any substance that will give a dense smoke. Immediately 

 after, fill up the hollow with ant-hill earth aud ashes saturated 

 with kerosine and water or carbolic and water. Even this 

 remedy fails except at rare intervals, but the vitality of 

 the tree is impaired after the attack. I regard the red 



beetle as the most formidable foe of the coconut planter, 

 and as destructive as all the other enemies put together. 

 Means may be devised to circumvent the other enemies 

 of the tree, as they carry on their work of destruction 

 openly to a great extent; but the attacks of the red beetle 

 are insidious, and very often the first intimation of its 

 attacks is the droopping head of your very best tree. The 

 attacks of the other enemies of the coconut tree are in 

 their early life, when the loss can be easily repaired by 

 a supply; but this foe attacks a tree after it has escaped 

 every other foe, and about the time you expect to reap 

 the fruits of your labour and patient waiting. You cannot 

 avoid its attacks ; but I remember reading sometime back 

 that a pound of salt placed between the topmost branches 

 of a tree, just before the two rainy seasons of the year, 

 is a specific, as the melting salt forms a crust on the stem 

 specially distasteful to the beetles. Now we know that salt 

 dissolves even without coming into contact with water, so 

 that so highly soluble a substance is not at all likely to form a 

 rain-resisting crust even of a few months' duration. The 

 benefit of the application to me is more imaginary than real. 

 I will notice the second part of the essay in another com- 

 munication. 



After a long interval I resume notice of the second part 

 of the Essay on Coconut Cultivation which appeared in 

 the Tropical Agriculturist for July. Before proceeding, I 

 cannot but refer to your foot-note to that part of my pre- 

 vious communication bearing on coconut nurseries. Nine 

 out of every ten natives put down their seed coconuts on 

 their side, aud very often the tenth one too does it. The 

 system has advanced a great deal beyond the experimental 

 stage, and does away with the necessity for trying it on 

 a few coconuts as you suggest, aud the benefits of the 

 system are not theoretical but real* In detailing the ad- 

 vantages of putting coconuts on their side in the nursery, 

 I forgot to mention that it allows of the resulting plants 

 being steadied when planted out, by two pegs put cross- 

 wise over it, to overcome the displacement which follows 

 the coconut holes being filled with water. 



To resume. The " gratitude of the coconut for fertiliz- 

 ing matter " is exemplified by the robust and green appear- 

 ance of the trees in the vicinity of habitations. The native 

 accounts for this by the love of the tree for the human 

 voice, and not, we are told, by the manure deposited by 

 the family and their domestic "animals. The writer thinks 

 that the lesson to be drawn from this is, that we ought 

 to hasten the profitable period by artificial means. To 

 my mind this is a short-sighted policy. The lesson I learu 

 from the vigorous growth of trees near human habitations 

 is the benefit of keeping a plantation already in bearing 

 in good heart to secure remunerative returns. 



The usual or Goiya system of opening up a plantation 

 is next discussed. The clearing of the land is done with- 

 out any money expenditure by the proprietor ; and in a 

 favourable case, we are told, the land share of the secondary 

 crop covers the cost of lining, holing and planting. 1 sup- 

 pose this includes cost of plants as well, as it is said this 

 system gives the owner his land planted free of all cost, 

 except the purchase money and the interest on it. The 

 plantation is then allowed to run into jungle for three 

 years, " when there is the alternative of clearing the jungle 

 or letting it grow on, and finally smother f)0 per cent of 

 the plants, whereas if cleared in the sixth year 50 per cent 

 will probably be saved." A little complicated this, for we 

 are not told what percentage of plants can be saved by 

 clearing in the third year, nor is the period of time in 

 the expression " grown on " indicated. The exactitude with 

 which the percentages of saved plants by clearing at certain 

 intervals is given, is, I am afraid, not the result of any 

 calculation. In the twelfth or thirteenth year, when the 

 more forward trees begin to bear, the final clearing takes 

 place. By the second period of neglect 10 per cent more 

 of the plants are lost. Of the 40 per cent alive, 10 per 



* From the absence of any reference in his last letter 

 to the planting of coconuts on their sides being practised 

 by natives, we thought our correspondent spoke of experi- 

 ments initiated by himself, but on enquiry the very next 

 day, we found that the practice was very common in the 

 country, and we mentioned the fact in a subsequent 

 issue. — Ed. "Ex." 



