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which is extracted by pressure. The oil when purified, is largely used in 

 cookery, and for other purposes. The coarser or thicker part of the oil 

 is utilised in the manufacture of stearine candles. In the process of 

 purifying, glycerine is obtained in quantity. The fibrous covering of 

 the nut, known as Coir, is extensively used for making mats and various 

 other purposes. From the sap of the Cocoa Nut Palm a liquor is 

 obtained which yields by evaporation a large proportion of sugar, which 

 n India is called Jagery. When fermented this liquor passes under the 

 name of Toddy, and by distillation the spirit known as Arrack is obtained. 

 The juice is obtained by boring holes in the stems and collecting the 

 material in jars. When plants are used for this purpose, they are not 

 allowed as a rule, to bear fruit. The stems of the Cocoa Nut Palm are 

 tough and durable, and yield what is known as Porcupine Wood. 



Cl'LTIVATloX AND PROPAGATION. 



The Cocoa Nut Palm can only be grown with success in the tropical 

 coast regions of Australia and the South Sea Islands- It delights in a 

 rich open sandy loamy soil near to the sea shore. The plants should 

 stand about twenty feet apart, taking care not to place them too deep 

 in the ground. In rich soil the plants will come into bearing in five or 

 six years from the time they are planted, but in poorer land develop- 

 ment will be slower, and eight or ten years may pass before fruit is 

 produced. After the plants commence to bear they yield crops with 

 great regularity, and seldom fail. They are also very prolific, and 

 mature trees yield a large number of nuts. Propagation is invariably 

 effected by seeds, and the nuts should be planted about six inches deep. 

 They are commonly planted where the nuts are to remain, but a surer 

 method is to raise them in a nursery, and transplant when they are 

 large enough. A good way of raising plants is, get some large bamboo 

 stems, cut them in pieces about nine inches in length, place the nuts in 

 them and plant. By adopting this plan the pieces of Bamboo will 

 serve as pots, and the young Palms can be lifted and planted out 

 without their roots being materially disturbed. 



DOUBLE COCOA NUT. 



This is quite distinct from the ordinary Cocoa Nut, being produced 

 by Lodoicea sechellarum, a handsome Palm indigenous to the small group 

 of islands known as the Sechelles. This is considered to be the largest 

 and most remarkable of all Palms as it often attains a height of more 

 than a hundred feet, the stem being from eighteen inches to two feet in 

 diameter, and the summit crowned with very large fan shaped leaves. 

 The fruit is very large, oblong, and covered with a thin skin or rind. 

 This covering encloses two vary large oblong nuts firmly united together, 

 the pair generally weighing from thirty to forty pounds. The fruit is 

 produced in bunches of from eight to ten. As the nuts hang for a long 



