?6 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



EXTRACTS FROM A PAPER BY THE LATE Mr. 

 WILLIAM JARDINE. 



(Written in 1905.) 



The cultivation of the Coconut Palm is now so universal in all tro- 

 pical countries that it is next to impossible to discover its original 

 habits, and there is no authentic account as to when the first coconuts 

 were drifted to the shores of Ceylon. Those who wish for information 

 on this head, and are curious as to the traditions concerning the Coco- 

 nut Palm, wj.11 find it all set forth in the introductory portion of Fer- 

 guson's "Coconut PlanteiV Manual." So far as Ceylon is concerned, 

 the reliable information available pohits to the Dutch as the people whr> 

 really began ihe systematic planting and cultivation of the palm; and 

 once planted ? iong the seaboard it has been regularly maintained by the 

 dwellers on the lam!. The old idea that it would not thrive far from the 

 influence of the sea breeze is exploded, as it grows well all over the low- 

 country, where the soil and rainfall are suitable, and even in sheltered 

 valleys at an elevation of 2,000 feet, as in the town of Badulla. We 

 must also give up the poetic fancy that the coconut tree stretches out 

 towards the sea because it loves the briny breeze. The truth is, that 

 the tree is a lover of light, and will bend in any direction to reach it; 

 and as there is no obstruction on the seashore it naturally bends in 

 that direction and would do the same if the open space were inland. 

 So sensitive is it to shade of the lightest that it instinctively bends 

 away from it, and instances may be seen where the tree has grown 

 almost horizontally till outside the influence of the shade, before it 

 assumed its upward growth. For the success of a Coconut Plantation the 

 essential is the right kind of soil; that secured, all else is easy and suc- 

 cess assured; that missed, leads to constant trouble, increased expense, 

 and often to failure and loss. It is marvellous how men will go on 

 planting lands utterly unfit, though they have constantly before their 

 eyes the failures of others on like soi]. If a census could be taken of 

 the acreage of all bad lands planted, which never have paid and never 

 can pay, it would be scarcely credited. When land- unsuited for the 

 successful growth of coconut has unfortunately been purchased, and 

 even gone as far as tc be cleared, the cheapest thing for the purchaser 

 is to let it revert to jungle. The loss of the purchase money would be 

 as nothing compared to the constant drain should he decide to cultivate it. 



Description of Lands.— The best soil is, of course the alluvial de- 

 posit on the banks of rivers, where the land is periodically flooded for 

 a few days; fortunate, indeed, is the possessor of such land. The next 

 best is a deep sandy loam, and 75 per cent, of sand is not too much. 



