COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 01 



Coconuts cculd be kept in ITusk for about 4 months without deteriora- 

 tion. Sun dried copra could bo prepared by about 6 to 8 exposures: 

 kiln-dried by 8 to 10 firings (2 a day) — 6 with double lines of shells and 

 the rest with single lines. The kiln should be open in front with holes 

 at the back for free circulation of air. The drying stand should be from 

 6 feet 6 inched to 7 feet in height. Firing should be done very care- 

 fully — double tows of shells to every 4 feet for wet coconuts in shell, 

 and single lines of shells after separation has taken place. 



Copra dries according to the maturity of the nuts ; the less matured 

 taking a longer time. Copra that is found to have dried sufficiently 

 should not be subjected to further heat especially in the kiln. Coolies, 

 for the sake of convenience, do not sort out the dry from the undried 

 out keep the heat going till all the copra is dried. This should not be 

 permitted. 



Yield.— The average, yield on a well-cultivated estate is about 50 

 nuts per tree, though in some estates as much as 75 nuts are sometimes 

 obtained. On cultivated estates between 900 and 1,200 nuts go to mak" 

 a candy of copra. 



EXTRACTS FROM A PAPER BY Mb. M. KELWAY BAMBER, 

 GOVERNMENT AGRICULTURAL CHEMIST. 



Before dealing with the treatment and manuring of the coconut palm it 

 ;s perhaps advisable to briefly consider the various types of soil and the 

 climatic conditions under which it thrives. Inmost tropical countries the 

 palm is found to grow most luxuriantly near the sea coast where the con- 

 tour of the land is generally flat, and where it is exposed to the effect of 

 salt sea-breezes during some period of the year. It grows best within a few 

 degrees north and south of the equator In several countries, including 

 Ceylon, its growth has extended inland many miles from the sea, and it ia 

 now grown over large areas at elevations up to 1,600 ft. ou soil totally 

 different, both physically and and chemically, to those found on tho sea 

 coast. In the Maldives and South Sea Coral Island the coconut thrives ou 

 almost pure coral lime; while in Ceylon, it is generally grown on sands vary- 

 ing from pure white, as seen in and around Colombo and Batticaloa, to dark 

 grey reddish sands of the Chilaw and other districts. Further inland it is also 

 frequently grown on alluvial banks of rivers where it does well, and i* also 

 grown on cabooky soils which form the rising ground in most of the low- 

 country plantations. In the Malay States the palm nourishes on deep 

 alluvial soil varying from coarse sands to finely divided siliceous silts almost 



