Chap. VI.] COCO->'UT PALMS. 529 



prise lias been somewhat discouraged by the non-reahsation 

 of the liopes of the first adventurers. Though hixuriant 

 in their early growth, the young palms failed to come to 

 maturity within the anticipated period, and the great 

 operations of crushing and exporting the oil have scarcely 

 yet commenced within the Jaffna peninsula. 



Experience ha^ shown that the further the coco-nut 

 palm is removed from the shore and the influence of the 

 sea, the more its growth is diminished, and tlie less 

 abundant its fruit. ^ Hence, and also from the palms' re- 

 quuing constant irrigation during the early stages of their 

 growth, the Jaffna planters have selected for their opei'a- 

 tions those portions of the coast which are flanked by 

 estuaries and intersected by inland lakes, where wells can 

 be sunk at a small cost and water carried with the least 

 expense. 



The first operation in coco-nut planting is the formation 

 of a nursery, for which purpose the ripe nuts are placed 

 in squares containing about four hundred each ; these are 

 covered an inch deep with sand and sea-weed or soft mud 

 from the beach, and watered daily till they germinate. 

 The nuts put down in April are sufiiciently grown to be 

 planted out before the rains of September, and they are 

 then set out in holes three feet deep and twenty to thu'ty 

 feet apart, experience having showai'that the practice of 

 the natives in crowding them into less than half that 

 space is prejudicial to the growth of the trees, those in the 

 centre yielding httle or no fruit. Before putting in the 

 young plant, it is customary to bed the roots with soft 



^ I have been told by an experi- 

 enced planter at Jaftiia, that of two 

 estates, one at Tatto-van-kadoo, 

 where the soil is grey santl, and 

 where water is abundant at twelve 

 feet deep, the coco-nut trees usually 

 attained the height of twelve feet iii 

 three years; whilst similar plants 



VOL. H. M U 



tended T^dth great care reached only 



one-hiilf that height within the same 

 period, on an estate at Aya-nan-gny- 

 kadoo, within a short distance, where 

 the soil was red sand and the sup- 

 plies of water limited even at a 

 deptli of twenty-one feet from tlie 

 surface. 



