100 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 1, 1911. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



COCOA-NUT CULTIVATION IN ANTIGUA. 



A paper I m cocoa-nut cultivation in Antigua was 

 read by Mr T. Jackson, Curator of the Botanic Station, 

 at a general meeting of the Antigua Agricultural and 

 Commercial Society, held on March 10, 1911, an abstract 

 of which has been forwarded by Mr.H. A. Tempany,B.Sc., 

 Superintendent of Agriculture forthe Leeward Islands: — 



In the course of his remarks Mr. Jackson pointed out 

 that, at the present moment, there are 150 acres under cocoa- 

 nuts in Antigua. The majority of the plants for this area 

 were raised at the Botanic Station, from which institution 

 some 7,500 plants have been sent out during the last few 

 years. Unfortunately, here, as in other places, a large per- 

 centage of the nuts fail to germinate, and it is advisable to 

 have about 40 per cent, more nuts in the nursery than the 

 number of plants that it is desired to plant out in the field. 

 The best germination has been obtained when the nuts are 

 planted horizontally, or with the pointed ends turned upward. 

 This agrees with experiments conducted in various parts 

 of the world, which indicate that the least successful results 

 are given when the nuts are planted vertically, with the points 

 either upwards or downwards. 



When one considers that there are about sixty varieties 

 of this palm, the difference between each mainly consisting 

 in variations in size, shape and character of the fruit, it will 

 be seen how necessary it is for seed nuts to be rigidly selected. 

 They should lie obtained from middle-aged trees of robust 

 growth, and should be allo^ved to mature on the trees, and 

 when j)ickefl should be lowered, and not thrown down. The 

 size of the nuts must also be considered, depth of flesh and 

 thickness of husk being factors to take into consideration 

 when selecting seed for planting purpcses.* 



The question as to the type of soil best suited to the 

 cocoa-nut palm is not easily answered, but it is generally 

 acknowledged that a deep alluvial soil, or that of a sandy 

 nature, possessing moving underground water, situated at no 

 great distance from the sea is a type in which it flourishes. 

 Speaking generally, as far as Antigua is concerned, it 

 would appear that the land situated between Old Koad and 

 Claremont, I'hiefly that included in Claremont estate, is prolv 

 ably the part hest suited to the recpiirements of this croji. 

 In addition to this, there are numerous pieces of land suit- 



*Soo al.s.> A;inn,lhn„l Neir.,, Vol. IX, p. 2-J4. K.l. A.N. 



able to its cultivation, some forming gentle slopes to the 

 sea, and others valleys, possessing underground supplies of 

 water, which this deeu-rooting i)alm would tap. Types of 

 soils to be avoided are thin gravels, and those of a particu- 

 larly clayey nature. 



In the existing plantations, the soil is of a very sandy 

 nature, apparently not containing an adequate supply of food 

 for the immediate use of the young plants Consequently, 

 for some time after planting, the foliage of the trees is yellow 

 and, on the whole, unhealthj-looking. As the plants become 

 established and root systems of comparatively large dimen- 

 sions are formed, the general appearance of the trees improves 

 considerably. A probable explanation of this is that the 

 roots reach underground water, which undoubtedly exists in 

 the land in question. By the aid of the additional nourfsh- 

 ment thus placed at their disposal, they increase in vigour 

 and the plants are better able to withstand the attacks of 

 scale insects. The improvement is decidedly noticeable after 

 the latter have attained a hi:ight of about 3 feet. Such soil 

 conditions are generally acknowledged to be suitable to the 

 requirements of this crop. 



It is much too early to estimate when the.se plantations 

 will be in bearing. On good land, the time from the planting 

 of the crop to the first return is usually given as six years, and 

 under such conditions, the plants are in full bearing in eight 

 or nine years. If artificial watering were resorted to until 

 the plants were firiidy established, the time of fruiting would 

 be hastened considerably. 



With the exception of scale insects, cocoa-nuts do not at 

 the present time, in Antigua, suffer from the attjicks of 

 any serious pests, as far as can be gathered; only one attacks 

 these pialms to any great extent, that is Aspidiottis destructor. 

 For some time after planting, this pest seriously retards 

 the general development nf the trees. The larger trees, 

 however, some of which are between 14 ami Hi leet high, 

 appear to have sutticient vigour to withstand successfully the 

 attacks. 



The planting of this crop in Antigua is only in its 

 experimental stage, but the general appearance of the planta- 

 tions, started some three or four years ago, is on the whole 

 encouraging. 



One very obvious conclusion that can be drawn from 

 these plantings is that when cocoa-nut plants are raised in 

 soil of a nature .similar to that under consideration, they 

 should be provided with sutticient plant food to tide thera 

 over the first two years of their existence. This might be 



