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tree indigenous to Peru and other parts of South America, belonging to 

 the order Sterculiaceas. It is a handsome tree, attaining a height of fifty 

 or sixty feet, with broad cordate leaves and Mallow-like flowers borne 

 upon the trunks and branches. The fruit is oval in shape, four or five 

 inches in length, and from two and a half to three in diameter. It 

 contains five cells, each one enclosing an angular seed about an inch in 

 length. The fruit is highly appreciated in its native countries, where 

 it is generally used. Its flesh has a flavour somewhat similar to an 

 Apricot, but has a rather stringy fibre. The Chupa may be cultivated 

 successfully in either of the Australian Colonies, as also in New Zealand. 

 As it is a handsome evergreen tree it may be used with advantage for 

 ornamental purposes, independant of any value possessed by its fruit. It 

 may be grown successfully in any average good soil, and should be treated 

 as an ordinary evergreen tree. Propagation may be effected by seeds, 

 which should be planted three inches deep, or ripened cuttings of the 

 current season's growth, which will strike in sand or light soil. 



COCOA NUT. 



HISTORY AND USES 



This is a well-known fruit that is extensively cultivated in the coast 

 regions of tropical countries, and it is generally admitted to be one of the 

 most useful plants grown for the service of mankind. There is a saying 

 that it has as many uses as there are days in the year. This plant 

 supplies food and drink with its fruit, the shells are converted into 

 domestic utensils, the stems and leaves afford materials for building and 

 thatching houses, the fibres are used for cordage and other purposes, 

 while the juice from the stems yield sugar, wine, and spirits. The Cocoa 

 Nut is a Palm known botanically as Cocos nucifera. It is supposed to 

 be a native of the South East coast of Asia, but is now found growing 

 naturally in regions not far from the sea in India, tropical Africa, and 

 numerous islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Cocoa Nut 

 Palm attains a height of from fifty to a hundred feet, and when growing 

 under favourable conditions will live from eighty to a hundred years or 

 more. There are no branches and the flowers are produced at the top of 

 the trunk. The nuts are produced in bunches of from ten to twenty or 

 more. They are about a foot in length, triangular in shape, and covered 

 with a thick coating of fibre which encloses the familiar hard shelled nut. 

 While the nut is green it is filled with a sweetish refreshing liquor, 

 but as it ripens, a formation of albumen takes place upon the inner side 

 of the shell, producing that white, firm, pleasant flavoured, but very 

 indigestible substance, which is known as the kernel. The Cocoa Nut 

 is very nutritious owing to the large proportion of fixed oil that it 

 contains. This large per centage of oil however is the cause of the nuts 

 being so indigestible. The dried kernels are exported from many of the 

 South Sea Islands, under the name of Copra,, for the sake of the < >il, 



