1072 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



It is calculated that 1 hectare of land on which 173 trees are growing will produce 

 a total of 7,000 nuts per annum, and that each tree will lose annually 16 leaves, 

 weighing about 3 kg. each. From these data it is calculated that the total annual 

 drain on the soil per hectare from growing cocoanuts is as follows: Nitrogen, 91.12 

 kg. ; potash, 135.37 kg. ; and phosphoric acid, 41.38 kg. Based on these data and the 

 analyses of seashore soil it is calculated that the seemingly barren seashore soils on 

 which cocoanut trees are growing so vigorously contain sufficient nitrogen to produce 

 crops for 307 years, sufficient potash for 1,478 years, and phosphoric acid for 677 years, 

 not taking into account the probable inexhaustible supply of plant food constantly 

 coming down in the seepage water from the interior hills. While irrigation and 

 fertilizing may be of considerable value to trees in the interior, on the seashore 

 irrigation would be of value only in dry seasons, and fertilizers would probably be 

 washed away before they could be used by the trees. 



The analyses of the nuts at different stages of growth are given in an extensive 

 series of tables. They show that there is no indication of meat or fatty material in 

 the nut until it has reached its maximum size and the shell is completed. With the 

 formation of the shell the milk becomes rather sweet, and a slimy, pulpy mass, hav- 

 ing a sweetish taste and comparatively little oil, begins to deposit on the inside, 

 chiefly on the lower half of the nut. Gradually it extends over the whole of the 

 inside of the nut, becoming denser and thicker and increasing in oil content at the 

 expense of the sugar in the milk. This hardening process continues often in ripe 

 nuts for 2 or 3 months after they have been picked from the tree, or until the nut 

 sprouts. 



With the appearance of the sprout the fat stored up in the nut is transformed into 

 sugar and other bodies, and the embryo gradually increases in size until it occupies 

 the whole space inside the nut and utilizes all the nourishment contained therein 

 for its growth. In order, therefore, to secure the largest yield of copra and oil, only 

 thoroughly ripe nuts should be used, and the author states that it is often advisable to 

 allow these to stand in a dry place for a few weeks before they are opened. By 

 the use of green nuts it is shown that there may be a loss of almost 50 per cent, while 

 if nuts are stored for more than 3 months there is a loss due to germination, and 

 often before that time nuts which have been cracked or bruised in gathering become 

 rancid. 



Analyses of different colored nuts — golden yellow and light green, both of which 

 turn brown at maturity — show practically no difference in composition. The quality 

 of nuts grown on the seashore, contrary to general statements, was not found to be 

 superior to those taken from trees farther inland. Among 1,000 nuts from the sea- 

 shore, gathered at random, 55 were found in bad condition, while out of the same 

 number, gathered from the interior, only 15 were spoiled. This difference, it was 

 thought, was due to the harder grounds along the seashore and the consequent 

 greater bruising in falling. 



Analyses are given of nuts from Davao. One variety was from trees producing 

 large nuts, rather pointed in shape, and the other from trees bearing small, rounder 

 fruit. The percentage of oil in the nuts free from husks was found to be about the 

 same in both cases. 



The seed grower, C. Johnson (Marietta, Pa., 1906, pp. 191, pi. 1).— This book, 

 believed by the author to be the first of its kind published in any country, gives 

 detailed directions for the production of all the different kinds of vegetable and 

 flower seeds commonly grown in the United States. A section is also devoted to 

 bulbs and shrubs. The usual field-crop seeds, such as clover, wheat, etc., are not 

 considered. Suggestions for originating new varieties, forms of contracts made by 

 seed growers with seed dealers, cultural hints for the ordinary garden crops, germina- 

 tion, color, and vitality of seeds, and descriptions of a number of the more prominent 

 varieties of each of the different vegetables are included. 



