232 FLORIDA FRUITS COCOA-NUTS. 



heavy weight ; the fibers are then twisted into yarn, from 

 which cordage of all sizes is manufactured. The natives 

 sew together with coir yarns the planks which compose 

 their boats. The ropes which anchor them and the sails 

 which give them the power of motion are made of the 

 same material ; nor does this, like hemp cordage, need to 

 be tarred, as the sea-water, ever friendly to the cocoa-palm, 

 improves rather than injures the coir fiber. 



In Europe, as in Asia and America, this valuable fiber 

 is preferred to horse hair for stuffing beds, cushions, chairs, 

 and saddles, as it is indestructible, has no unpleasant 

 smell, and never harbors vermin. 



Brooms, mats, rugs, and brushes are also manufactured 

 from coir, and in Ceylon the husk in its natural state with 

 the fiber attached forms a first-class scrubbing-brush all 

 ready for use. 



Who will not "yield the palm" to the cocoa-nut tree as 

 the most royal, the most useful of its race, not excepting, 

 perhaps, even the honored date tree ? 



For forty years or more this noble tree has thriven and 

 borne fruit among the Florida Keys, and here and there 

 on the mainlands of the southernmost portions of the State. 



It is rather singular, therefore, that only within the last 

 three or four years has its culture come to be regarded as 

 among the commercial, not possibilities, but assurances of 

 our fair land; it is indeed "passing strange," and yet it 

 was the same with the orange and the pine-apple, and will 

 be with other resources now lying at our feet neglected or 

 unheeded in this wonderful country so full of unknown 

 possibilities. 



As we have seen, the cocoa-nut palm requires the vicin- 

 ity of the sea to reach its highest perfection, and this 

 requisite is every where present in those portions of Flor- 

 ida whose climate is suitable to its growth. 



