86 THE SEED-NUT AND THE NURSERY 



husk at the expense of the meat." These medium- 

 sized, roundish nuts, either reddish brown or green 

 in colour, are usually preferable to the oblong 

 yellowish variety. The kernel should be thick and 

 the husk thin. By inserting a knife until it reaches 

 the shell, the thickness of the husk can be easily 

 ascertained. 



The seed- nuts must have ripened on the tree, 

 and must be exactly ripe. It is by shaking that 

 the condition of the nut can best be tested. Should 

 it be unripe it will give forth a dull, heavy sound ; 

 when ripe it gives a sharp, clear sound. The natives 

 are remarkably clever in testing nuts by a tap 

 of the finger nail, and the planters, after a little 

 observation and practice, become equally expert 

 in this operation. 



Nuts selected for seed should not be carelessly 

 thrown down from the tree, but plucked and 

 lowered by hand, or dropped into a net, so that 

 they may not be exposed to the slightest risk of 

 damage. Nothing is more expensive, or irritating, 

 than to discover, several months after planting, 

 that a number of seed nuts have cracked kernels, 

 and are consequently absolutely useless for repro- 

 ductive purposes. 



It may happen that the nuts, even when ripe, 

 still contain a considerable quantity of water, in 

 which case they need curing that is to say, drying 

 for a period that practical planters estimate at 



