112 COCONUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



Lime can ho bought in two forms, quicklime and slaked lime. As 

 a general rule slaked lime is to be preferred for coconuts. The ques- 

 tion of the proper amount per acre is quite different in this case from 

 the case of fertilisers. The lime is wanted not as a fertiliser but as 

 an improver of the sou texture and the dose is to be reckoned in tons 

 per acre rathei than pounds. At least one half ton per acre of slaked 

 lime should be given for the first dose. Later doses may be. modified 

 according to results. 



The Use of Salt. 

 There is a common belief that because the coconut tree thrives on 

 the sea-coast :t needs salt to make it produce its best crops. This seems 

 probable, but is nevertheless untrue. The good growth of coconut near 

 the sea-shore is the result of their need of abundance of light and air 

 and is not duo to any need for common salt. Common salt is not a 

 plant-food, bin like linn it has an indirect fertilising action. It has 

 the power of setting free potash from its compounds in the soil that 

 a plant can make use of it, hut it is not the common salt that the plant 

 feeds on. The coconut tree is able to live in a soil containing larger 

 quantities of common salt than would be healthy for many other plants, 

 but the salt is not in any way a necessity. Just as good crops are got 

 from trees grrwing far inland and far from the influence of the salt of 

 the sea as are got from trees on the coast, and moreover it is only 

 those few trees whose roots extend below high-water mark that come 

 into contact with salt water, at all. The direction of flow of soil water 

 is from the land to the sea and not vice-versa, and the influence of the 

 saltness of the sea extends only a short way inland. 



On certain soils rich in potash minerals, applications of common salt 

 may give profi'able returns, but it is not to be recommended for general 

 use. Long continued applications have a bad effect on the texture of 

 the soil and by exhausting it of its natural store of potash they leave 

 it in the end in worse condition than it was before treatment. 



The Use of Kainit. 

 Kainit is often recommended as a fertiliser for coconuts because of 

 the common salt which it contains, but from the above paragraph it wdl 

 be clear that the common salt is only of use indirectly. Kainit is an 

 impure salt of potash and its value depends chiefly on the amount of 

 potash it contains. At present it is sold under a guarantee of 12 per 

 cent, of potash, and at a price of Rs. 60 per ton. Sulphate of potash 

 contains 50 per cent, of potash and is sold at Rs. 185/- per ton, and is 

 therefor© really cheapur than Kainit. For suppese we wished to apply 

 10 lbs. of potash to oui soil, we would have to use 83 lbs. 5* ozs. of 

 Kainit which would cost Rs. 2.23 whereas by us ng sulpbate of potash 

 we would only require 20. lbs. costing Rs. 1.65. 



