20 



COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



When a tree first begins to flower, the earliest inflorescences fre- 

 quently bear male flowers only. One such tree produced five male 

 inflorescences. Thus for the best part of a year a tree, though 

 flowering, may not produce any nuts. If, as my information stands, 

 this occurs side by side with trees which bear mixed inflorescences from 

 the first, it would point to a difference in jat, rather than a difference 

 in previous treatment. In that case, the early history of the parent 

 plants ought to be known when selecting nuts for seed, for it is obviously 

 an advantage to have trees which bear nuts from their first flowers. 



There is a theory, which appears to be supported by some evi- 

 dence, that in cases where plants bear- two kinds of flowers, male 

 and female, on the same or different individuals, those which grow 

 near the upper limit of the species are male. 



As already stated, " overlapping " occurred thrice — in October 

 1912, May 1913, and September 1913. Evidently an interval 

 between successive inflorescences not exceeding about thirty days is 

 necessary to ensure over-lapping. That requires the production of 

 twelve, or more, inflorescences per annum, whereas on the tree under 

 notice there were only nine. 



The interval between successive inflorescences varied from 24 to 

 58 days. On the average, the intervals at the beginning of the year- 

 were longer than those later. The largest interval occurred in the 

 driest season though the intervals are not solely governed by rainfall- 

 — [Extract from an article hy Mr. T. Fetch in the " Tropical Agricul- 

 turist " for December, 1913.] 



THE NUT, 



The nut consists of four definite parts — the husk, shell, meat and 

 water, The following statement gives the percentages of each compo- 

 nent as reckoned from 1,000 nuts, taken from sea-shore and inland 

 trees : — 



