115 



COCONUTS. 



OBSERVATIONS ON COCONUT EXPERIMENTS. 



By G. E. Coombs, b.sc. 

 (Economic Botanist, F.M.8.) 



AND 

 W. S. COOKSON, 



{Manager, Bindings Coconut ^states, Bindings, tS.S.) 



A S a Conference subject this subject is almost ideal as heretofoi*e 



experiments in coconut culture have been laid down on any 



but uniform lines, and an occasion of this nature provides opportunity 



of indicating — for purposes of discussion — some of the guiding 



principles which should direct the evolution of methods. 



The experimenter in agricultural science and in particular the 

 experimenter in that part of the science which deals with crop, 

 production, where experiment is directed to the causation and actual 

 measurement of increase of crop returns, has to approach his object 

 with extreme caution, for he is called upon to work with material of 

 widely varying natures and, if the extent of these variations is not 

 examined critically he is exceedingly likely to arrive at eiToneous 

 x'esults. 



It is a point of fundamental importance that before judgment in 

 the sense of an expression of actual measured yield-effect, can be 

 passed on the values of different treatments given to any crop, the 

 facts of the variation in yield wliich blocks of the crop show under 

 as far as possible uniform conditions must be determined. With 

 this knowledge, logical interpretation may be placed on results 

 obtained. The method has been evolved to a high degi-ee of 

 perfection in experiments with annual crops and in this case 

 accurate experiments can be carried out on land of small dimensions, 

 but the case of permanent crops, e.g., fruit trees, though amenable 

 to precisely similar methods, presents added pitfalls and difficulties. 



The factors which determine production of fruit in any stand of 

 trees are : 



(1) The constitutional natures of the trees. Any block of 

 them, unless they are of pure stock, may contain a 

 number of varieties or sub-varieties of varying pro- 

 ductive powei's ; these varieties will contain individuals 

 of varying productive powers ; and this curaulativ^ely 

 variable individuality, may be expressed by the presence 

 of very precocious bearers and those appixjaching 

 -. sterility. .: . 



