COCdNUT PLANTER'S MANUAL. 119 



CHAPTERS BY " TRENT VALE.' 



Some of the Special Features and Requirements of the 

 Coconut Palm, 



The Roots. 

 The roots of plants perform two functions. Firstly, they fix tha 

 plant in the soil and provide a support upon which the stem, branches 

 and foliage are raised, and secondly, they absorb from the soil nitrogen 

 and the mineral plant-foods which form an essential part of the diet of 

 plants. 



So far as these functions themselves are concerned the roots of 

 the coconut palm do not differ from those of any other ordinarily cul- 

 tivated plant, but as regards the manner in which these functions are 

 carried out the coconut palm is in a class entirely by itself. 



Consider first the purely mechanical function pei formed by roots. 

 the fixing of the plant to the soil. The roots of ordinarily cultivate! 

 plants, such as rice, lea, grass, rubber and so forth, develop either upon 

 the " tap " or the " fibrous " system; that is to say the roots grow 

 down into the soil either in the form of one or more large main stems 

 which give off secondary and tertiary branches at varying intervals, 

 or else the roots grow out from the base of the plant in a more or less 

 dense mass or fine fibres. The coconut palm develops its roots upoi 

 neither of these systems. From the base of the palm radiate, in the 

 case of a full- gj own healthy specimen, several thousands of long strand- 

 like roots which are remarkably uniform in diameter, being a little 

 thicker than a peucil and not quite so thick as one's little finger. These 

 roots develop outwards from the palm in almost straight lines, shewing 

 very little tendency to twist or turn in any other direction. They never 

 go very deep into the soil; in ordinary land the huge majority of them 

 will be found within the first two feet of soil. The length to which they 

 ulrimately develop is largely governed by the nature of the soil and 

 the amount of cultivation which is carried out. In heavy " Cabooky " 

 land these roots may not be more than twelve to fifteen feet in length, 

 while in lighter soil thej may easily reach outwards for a distance of 

 t wonty-five feet. 



These long main roots may bear as many as twenty branches or 

 they may have none at all. As a general rule the branch-roots are not 

 more than three or four feet in length and they possess a marked ten- 

 dency to grow out at right angles from the parent roots. The branch- 

 roots may themselves bear- smaller branches not more than a few inches 



