CULTIVATION IN INDIA 



plant t-r must resort to artificial irrigation. [C/. Baur, Ind. Gard., 

 II. 1899; Cochran, Trop. Agri., 1900, xix.) 



\nninONAL PECULIARITIES OP INDIAN CULTIVATION.- Bombay -The 

 nut is only common in the south of this Presidency, and its chief value 

 , tin. rich supply of toddy it affords. In Kolaba district, however, the soil 

 . : 1 1 uito arc found so suitable that the toddy exceeds the demand. The average 

 ,1 yield of nuts is suid to bo about 120 per tree, and each palm maybe 

 n.'il to h.ivocost about Rs. 9 up to the point at which it begins to yield. In 

 L district tin- annual yield ia estimated at 75 nuts to each palm. The dry 

 v soini't imfs tin nun into a well and left to sprout there, being subsequently 

 .to H nursery : or they are allowed to fall from the tree and then buried. 

 In tin. Kathiawar district they are planted and grown in pits 3J by 3 feet 

 imeter, cut out of solid limestone and filled with mould. In Kanara, 

 .twin- and KiitniiL'iri tho cocounut is abundant, and in tho latter district 

 : annual profit from each tree is said to be about Rs. 1-3-0. During 

 Xarral Purnima " or Cocoanut Festival of the Hindus, which is supposed to 

 tin- end of the monsoon in August, Bombay Natives throw nuts into the 

 propitiate the god of storms. [Cf. Madras Mail, Aug. 23, 1899.] 

 ras. This Presidency, especially the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts, 

 chief seat of the Indian cocounut industry. The Laccodivo Islands 

 send their contingents to ports on the Malabar Coast, the produce of both 

 ig reckoned together. The Maldives are under a Sultan who is subordinate 

 to the Governor of Ceylon ; the coir produced is conveyed to India and lost sight 

 the customary trade returns. The Godavari district has been called the 

 tuiise of the Cocoanut palm," the delta of the river showing an abundance 

 of the trees. Mr. Lushington, District Forost Officer of Kistna, stated in the 

 Tropical Agriculturist (Jan. 1, 1895, xiv., 457) that 200 nuts per annum was a 

 noderate estimate for good fruiting trees in the Godavari district, and indeed 

 an even higher average (250 to 300 nuts per annum) has been quoted for Ceylon 

 highly manured palms (Trop. Agri., April 1, 1893, xii., 650). In Travancore 

 800,000 trees were counted during settlement operations in 1902, and it is 

 estimated that 25 per cent, should be added for non-taxpaying areas. \Cf. 

 Capital, Oct. 30, 1902.] In South Kanara, plantations extend along tho whole 

 coast-line, the average to the acre being about 120 trees each, yielding 40 to 50 nuts 

 annually. The seed-nuts are usually not plucked but allowed to fall from the trees. 

 In Mysore there are said to be four varieties of the cocoanut red, red and 

 green, light green and dark green. Toddy is not made from the palm, as the fruit 

 is more valued. Occasionally a few green nuts are cut for the juice and for their 

 fibre. The Mysore cultivation is to some extent peculiar, and a full account of 

 it will be found in the Dictionary. 



On the Nlcobar Islands the palm is very abundant, the annual yield being 

 estimated at about 10,000,000 nuts. In the Andamans it is said to be a com- 

 paratively recent introducton. In 1901-2 there were estimated to be 42,997 

 cocoanut trees in bearing and 64,821 not, and in the same year 428,897 nuts were 

 received into the oil-factory at Viper. 



In Burma success would appear to depend largely on the district. Mason 

 (Burma and Its People (ed. Theobald), 1883, ii., 143) says that the palm will not 

 thrive except near the sea, and in many parts the seedlings are believed to damp 

 off. Some years ago it was reported there were 10,000 acres under cocoanuts 

 in the Bassein district of Pegu alone. 



Bengal the cocoanut is plentiful throughout the lower Gangetic basin, but 

 rule only in garden cultivation, and the produce is not much in excess of 

 demand. Pinenfj- and not Coroa is the palm used in this province as 

 lurce of toddy and sugar. In the districts of Barrisal, Backergange and 

 hali it is extensively grown in plantations by itself or along with the 

 Areca-nut palm. Throughout Bengal the opinion prevails that to fruit well the 

 lower two or three leaves must be removed in September. 



In Upper India and the Central Provinces the cocoanut is not cultivated. 

 ENEMIES TO THE COCOANUT. The greatest danger to which this palm is 

 subject arises from the attacks of various insects, mostly the grubs of beetles. Of 

 these /< < i-ufMiM, a large insect with a reddish-brown head, appears to attack 

 the root and subsequently to find its way into the stem ; it is believed to be 

 especially prevalent when the ground has been too richly manured. Jumelle 

 (I.e. 100) says a similar insect lays its eggs in the stem and the larviu bore 



353 23 



cocos 



NUCIFERA 



Cultivation 



Bombay. 



OMM. 



QMMM! 



l-tr. .1. 



Madras. 



Laccadlve and 



Ifeldtn 



bland*, 



QodararL 



Travancore. 

 S. Kanara. 



Mysore. 

 Nicobar. 

 Burma. 

 Bengal. 



Removal of 



l.'-.iv. s. 



Enemies. 



Grubs of 



