IXTRODl'CED TLAXTS AND AXLMALS. 235 



easily penetrated by the roots of the palm. For this reason the sandy soil near 

 the sea-shore furnishes its best environment. The structure of the tree fits it to 

 withstand wind of almost any force and they seem to prefer plenty of rain, wind 

 and sun. 



The yield of nuts fluctuates greatly from year to year and from tree to tree. 

 There are reports of as many as 400 nuts having- been gathered in one season 

 from a single tree in some of the more favored islands of the south Pacific. 

 In Hawaii as many as 200 nuts, besides innumerable blossoms, have been counted 

 on a tree at one time, but it is doubtful if an average of eighty mature nuts 

 could be gathered during a year. It is a curious thing that nuts perfectly green 

 in appearance will be as ripe as those having yellow husks. For this reason, it is 

 desirable to pick the oldest nuts on the tree without waiting for them to ripen 

 and fall to the earth. While no one in Honolulu, to my knowledge, has ever 

 been in.iured by a falling cocoanut, the constant danger from that source is ap- 

 parent since a good-sized nut in the husk weighs several pounds. Those who are 

 familiar with the delicate flavor of the young nut prefer to gather them when 

 half mature and spoon the soft meat out of the shell before it has had time to 

 solidify and become oily. 



Of late years the tree rat has become a great pest in the cocoanut trees and 

 does great damage to the young nuts by gnawing- holes in them. They readily 

 pass from one tree to another along the leaves, and when a colony of rats becomes 

 established in a grove the tin sheaths so commonly placed about the trunk of the 

 tree does but little good, unless the tops of the trees are kept clear of the neigh- 

 boring foliage. 



While it is considered a difficult thing to tell how the milk gets into a cocoa- 

 nut, the rate of growth and the remarkable changes that take place during the 

 pei'icid of germination and early growth when the milk is getting out of the nut 

 can lie easily studied and well repays the trouble of making the observation. 

 The lime occupied in germination varies greatly, owing to a number of condi- 

 tions, especially the amount of moisture and sunshine, but in general many weeks 

 must pass before the first leaf opens. 



Just how the cocoanut came to Hawaii in the first place will never be known. 

 Its legendary history dates far back, and doubtless the tree has accompanied 

 the Polynesians on all of their wanderings about the Pacific. To this day the 

 native country of the cocoanut is not definitely known. DeCandoUe finds twelve 

 reasons for thinking it of Asiatic origin, but singularly enough there is one 

 reason — an almost unsurmountable one, for believing it to be an American plant. 

 Botanists have proven that none of the other nineteen species of the genus exist 

 anywhere in a wild state except on the American continent, and therefore con- 

 clude that the familiar species must have had the same origin. Some say that 

 the Philippine Islands is its ancesteral home, and that it was from thence carried 

 in all directions by ocean currents or by artificial means. At any rate it ranges 

 over the whole of the tropics, and within that range there are many varieties 

 based mainly on the size and shape of the fruit. However, these variations are 



