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HARVEST. 



Harvest of the crop requires but a brief discussion. The nuts should 

 be plucked when ripe. The phenomenon of maturity can not be readily 

 described in print. It frequently is as evident in huts of a bright green 

 color as in those of a golden-yellow color, and the recognition is one of 

 those things that can only be learned by experience. 



The practice, so general in the Seychelles, of allowing the nut to hang 

 till it falls to the ground is certainly undesirable in these Islands. On 

 the contrary, the overripe nuts will seldom fall until dislodged by a storm, 

 and it is no uncommon thing to see nuts that have sprouted and started 

 to grow upon trees in plantations where the harvest is left to the action 

 of natural causes. Such nuts, of course, are entirely worthless for the 

 manufacture of oil or copra, and even the husk has depreciated in value, 

 the finest coirs, in fact, being derived only from the fruits that have not 

 attained full ripeness. In any case, the nuts should be picked and the 

 crop worked up before any considerable enlargement or swelling of the 

 embryo occurs. From this time onward physiological changes arise which 

 injuriously affect the quantity and quality of what is called the meat. 



The heaping up of the nuts for some time after harvest favors some 

 milk absorption, which seems to facilitate the subsequent easy extraction 

 of the endosperm. 



ENEMIES. 



Outside of certain insects of the order Coleoptera, cocoanuts in the 

 Philippines are reasonably free from enemies; in some districts, close to 

 forest-clad areas, the raids of monkeys do some damage. A tree-nesting 

 rat, which nibbles the young nuts, is also a source of considerable loss. 

 The rat is best overcome by frequent disturbance of his quarters. This 

 involves the removal of the dead leaves and thatch that form constantly 

 about the base of the crown. But the wisdom of this recommendation 

 will depend entirely upon circumstances. As the planter may find that 

 rats or the rhinoceros beetle are the lesser evil, so should he be governed. 



There are localities in the Archipelago where the plague of rats is un- 

 known and where the beetles abound. In that case it would be unwise to 

 disturb the leaves which are very tardily deciduous and do not naturally 

 fall till the wood beneath is hard, mature, and practically impervious to 

 the attacks of insects. 



Where rats are numerous and insects few, which is the case in some 

 localities, the dead and dying leaves, among which the rat nests, may be 

 advantageously cleared away whenever the tree is climbed to harvest the 

 fruit. 



Among serious insect enemies we have to contend largely with the very 

 obnoxious black beetle, Oryctes rhinocerus, and, fortunately, to a lesser 

 extent, with Rhynchoporus ferrugineous (probably the same as R. ochre- 



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