96 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL 



beneficial result being chiefly due to the urine and soluble matters in the 

 manure which soak into the soil. 



That the coconut palm appreciates a continuous supply of readily 

 available plant food is shown If roni the manner in which they flourish and 

 crop heavily close to cooly lines or eooly houses. 



So far tho general practice has been to apply a practically insoluble 

 mixture (except lor the potash salts) consisting of castor or groundnut cake, 

 bone meal or basic slag, and kainit and other potash salts frequently with 

 20 to 30 lb. of cattle manure in addition when available. Such a manure is 

 applied every second year. 



The results generally are satisfactory and have resulted in generally 

 increased yields, esptcially after the second application, showing that 

 insoluble phosphates, etc., can be easi'y utilised by the coconut palm. Mr. 

 Rajapakse's results on one estate show an increase from 38,670 nuts in 1900 

 to 161,648 nuts in 1907. Still it remains to be seen whether frequent small 

 applications of concentrated soluble manures would not give more rapid and 

 equally satisfactory result than a large application of an insoluble manure 

 every two years. The result so far obtained at Peradeniya on old pa'ms 

 rather point to this conclusion. A good deal of the first application of 

 manures goes rather to increase the general vigour o r the palm than to 

 increase the crop, and for this reason it is advisable to make the first 

 mixture rather more nitrogenous, though if a good proportion of phosphates 

 are also given the ciop should also improve. 



Manuring is usually done by digging circular shallow trenches round 

 the palms, forking the manure into the trench and covering with soil. The 

 distance of the trench from the palm varies, some putting the manure at 



3 to 4 feet or even c.'oser, and others up to 10 to 12 feet. 



It is general'y believed that most absoibent rootlets are to be found 

 where the drip of i ain water from the leaves would fall on the soil. In the 

 case of the coconut palm much of the rain that falls on the top upright 

 leaves is directed inwards to the crown and runs down the stem. Asa 

 cunstant supply of moisture is essential for the solution of the manure, and 

 most of the absorption is from the root extremities about S feet to 12 feet 

 would be the be^ distance for large well-grown palms. For young palms 

 and those of stunted growth a closer apj lication is advisable, from 3 to 



4 feet, gradually increasing the distance as the palms increase in vigour and 

 the spread of leaf becomes greater. An experiment with a 7-year old palm 

 with a large proportion cf upright leaves showed that 97 per cent, of the 

 rain ran down the stem, 9"3 per cent, from 2 feet and 2'7 per cent, from 8 

 to 12 feet from the stem. 



For the improvement of a backward estate which has been more or less 

 neglected for years, it is advisable before mamirng thoroughly to plough or 



