160 



HISTOEY AND CAUSE OF THE COCONUT BUD-EOT. 



the Department of Commerce and Labor, but the sources of coir 

 are not so readily obtainable; these products come chiefly from the 

 East Indies and the Philippines. Colombia is kno\\Ti to be a large 

 exporter to the United States from the fact that the value of coco- 

 nuts imported thence into the United States, as sho\vTi by the United 

 States Department of Commerce and Labor, is in some years larger 

 than the value of like imports from any other single country. Brazil 

 is said to be a very large producer of nuts, but the exports to all 

 countries in late years are of small importance; there is no record 

 of importations thence into the United States. The places mentioned 

 in Table XXXIII are the ones commonly heard of in the markets. 



Table XXXIII. — Source and number of coconuts imported into the United States, by 



years, 1903-1906. 



[Figures under Bahamas, Honduras, and Porto Rico not verified, as there are no statistics of same on 



record in the Bureau of Plant Industry.] 



' From Estadistica General Comercio Exterior, Republica de Cuba. 



2 Statistical Tables, Coloniiil and Other Possessions, Great Britain. 



3 From Handbook of British Guiana, 1908. 



Coconut trees are found in greater or less numbers in all countries 

 of tropical America bordering the ocean, but they are found by no 

 means along all the coast line. In these countries there are many 

 miles of coast where no such trees are visible. The few coun- 

 tries mentioned in Table XXXIII, together with Nicaragua, Co- 

 lombia, and Venezuela, of tropical America are the chief sources 

 of the coconuts which are sent to the United States. It is said 

 that the coast of Brazil between the Rio San Francisco and the 

 bar of Mamanguape, a distance of 450 kilometers, is one almost 

 unbroken stretch of coconut trees. In addition, there are some coco- 

 nuts on the western coast of tropical America, though excepting in 

 Colombia not in great numbers. According to report. South America 

 has 1,000,000 acres in coconut cultivation. Table XXXIV is here 

 included to show the immense importance of the exportation from 

 the East. The data are incomplete and not in all cases comparable, 

 but they suffice to show that the industry is widespread and of very 

 great importance. 



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