15 



waves, or subjected to the subterranean influence of the sea, there will 

 never be so much as one tree growing in any beach basin which collects 

 and holds tidal water for even a brief time; and that, notwithstanding 

 the large number of nuts that must have found lodgment and favorable 

 germinating influence in such places, none succeed in growing. From 

 this we may derive the assurance that the desired water must be in motion 

 and that land near stagnant water, or marsh land, is unsuitable to the 

 plant. 



It may frequently be observed that trees will be found growing fairly 

 thriftily upon mounds or hummocks, in places invaded by flood or other 

 waters which, by reason of backing or damming up, have become stagnant. 

 An examination of the roots of an overthrown tree in such a locality will 

 show that all of those in the submerged zone have perished and rotted 

 away, but that such is the vitality and recuperative energy of the tree that 

 it has thrown out a new feeding system in the dryer soil of the mound 

 immediately surrounding the stem, which has been sufficient to success- 

 fully carry on the functions of nutrition, but altogether ineffective to 

 anchor the tree securely, or to prevent its prostration before the first 

 heavy gale. 



While this phase of the question will receive more attention when we 

 come to consider the chemistry of suitable manures, it may be said that, 

 although analysis of the cocoanut ash derived from beach-grown nuts 

 shows a larger percentage of those salts that abound in sea water than 

 those grown inland, yet the equal vigor, vitality, and fruitfulness of the 

 latter simply confirm the plant's exceptional adaptability to environment 

 and ability to take up and decompose, without detriment, the salts of sea 

 or brackish waters. As a victim to the maritime idea, the writer in 1886 

 planted, far inland, several hundred nuts in beds especially devised to 

 reproduce littoral conditions; shore gravel, sea sand, broken shells, and 

 salt derived from sea water being used in preparing the seed beds. The 

 starting growth was unexcelled. Then came a long period of yellowing 

 decline and almost suspended animation, ultimately followed by a com- 

 plete restoration to health and vigor. The early excellent growth was 

 due to the fact that the first nourishment of the plant is entirely derived 

 from the endosperm, and careful lifting of the young plants disclosed 

 the fact that recovery from their moribund condition was, in every 

 instance, coincident with the time that the roots first succeeded in work- 

 ing through the unpalatable mess about them into the outlying good, 

 sweet soil. 



The exposure of the plantation is an important consideration, and a 

 maritime site should be selected in preference to one far inland, unless it 

 be on an open, unprotected flat, exposed to the influence of every breeze 

 or the fiercest gales that blow. 



The structure of the cocoanut seems well fitted to endure winds of 

 almost any force, and that a remarkably abundant and strong circulation 



