92 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



of the consistency of clay, and of exceptional richness in plant food and 

 with a rainfall of 65 to 80 inches. Some of these soils contain from 8 to 55 

 times as much nitrogen as Ceylon sandy soils and 10 to 60 times more potash. 

 In some instances the growth is even more rapid when there is a layer of 

 jangle mould over the silt deposits. In the West Indies, Brazil and Central 

 America it grows chieily along the coast; and in the former, healthy palms 

 are said to average ICOnuts annually. 



The climate of the coconut districts varies in different parts of the 

 island. From Colombo to Chilaw and thence to Puttalam the rainfall gradu- 

 ally decreases from 725 inches in Colombo to 45"2 inches in Puttalam. The 

 heaviest rainfall is in the North-East monsoon from October to December, 

 with a fair amount in April and May, the rest of the year being more or less 

 dry, though rain falls every month. From Colombo to Galle the rainfall is 

 generally heavier (S2to 90 incbes) and better distributed throughout the year. 

 Inland at Veyangoda and Kurunegala the rainfall is about the same as in 

 Colombo and is fairly well distributed. In Jaffna, the rainfall is only 49 inches 

 the greater part of this falling between October and December, June to 

 September being practically dry. In Batticaloa the average is about 6-2 inches 

 with a long dry period from February to September and a wet N.-E. from 

 October to January. T be sandy soils of Ceylon are usually found near the 

 sea coast, but tliey also occur in the low-lying portions of slightly undulat- 

 ing estates for many miles inland, and are formed by the breaking down of 

 the cabooky soils, the finer clay being washed away to the rivers and sea, 

 and the sand collecting when the downward flow of water is temporarily 

 checked. The cinnamon soils, consisting of almost pure white sand, are the 

 poorest, and contain little available plant food; and although coconuts 

 will grow in them, they will hardly yield remunerative crops until heavily 

 cultivated and manured. The yellow grey and reddish sands are usually a 

 little richer in plant food, but even these may be classed as poor from a 

 chemical point of view; and it is remarkable, in many instances, how good 

 yields are obtainable from such soils. They consist of 93 per cent of sand 

 and only contain 0311 per cent of plant food altogether. Some of these 

 soils are too poor even to grow grass for "razing purposes, and it is only by 

 the enormous root development of the coconut palm through a large area 

 that it can obtain sufficient nutriment for a healthy leaf growth and fruit 

 production. The Maldive coral soils consist of about 90 per cent carbonate 

 of lime and are particularly rich iu phosphoric acid, and in some cases in 

 potash. It has been estimated by Lepine and others that a thirty-year old 

 coconut palm forms 2,240 pounds, or one ton, of organic matter during that 

 period of growth, and absorbs from the soil from 228 pounds to 320 pounds of 

 ash or mineral matter, consisting chiefly of potash salts, phosphate of lime and 

 ether lime salts, with a small proportion of sodium chloride and silica. The 

 average composition of the ash of the whole tree is approximately, salt 



