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of old palms with defective nutrition but there seems little doubt 

 that by far the greatest number may be accounted for by actual 

 lack of fertilization and fi'om the observations which it has been 

 possible to make, of these the over-whelming majority are those 

 in which pollination is never affected, viz. (a) above. 



It is a fact of general observation that in tropical flowers, those 

 in which pollination is never effected predominate in very large 

 numbers over those in which it actually takes place. 



Though the facts are not worked out and these arguments are 

 somewhat speculative (they are quoted merely for the purposes 

 of discussion), it seems safe to a-ssume that "nuts" which actually 

 swell to the size of a man's fist, have been fertilized. There may 

 however be, and probably is, swelling in the sense of growth taking 

 place, during the interval between actual pollination and fertili- 

 zation, but these facts are as yet undetermined. 



Actual fair-average counts made on three estates in the country 

 disclose the following figures for falling nuts in a year's crop of 

 4-4^ years old palms. Dindings 50-60 per cent., Bagan Datoh 60-70 

 per cent, and Tumbuk 50-60 per cent. In discussing the magnitude 

 of the effect of the contributing causes the following observations on 

 the pollination of the flower may be of interest. The flower is 

 dependent for its pollination on insects or on wind. As an insect 

 flower it falls short of the general attractive mechanisms of scent 

 showiness, and pi'oduces only a very small quantity of nectar. 

 As a wind flower it lacks the generally present pendulous stamens, 

 the much expanded stigma and other characters, though it produces 

 a prodigious quantity of smooth pollen. Indeed, nature seems to 

 have provided a means anything but precise for this particular palm, 

 and it seems fairly conclusive that this is the reason which may be 

 ascribed above all others to the cause of falling nuts. If this is the 

 case then it is very evident that variations in climate in this country 

 may have a less far reaching effect than has hitherto supposed in 

 deciding periodic production. The problem is full of interest and 

 it is here suggested as being of great importance. On one side 

 we hear the behest " Keep bees, you will ensure a fuller crop " but 

 the query raised by the other side as to where to find this actually 

 demonstrated is as yet un-answered. The matter should be worked 

 out by a botanist and entomologist in co-operation. At the moment 

 some experiments on hand-pollination are being executed. The field 

 is practically clear and there are a number of pressing problems. 

 These include the collection of data on the productivity of varieties 

 and individuals carried out to the final oil-content factor, as a basis 

 of seed selection ; the productivity of hybrids on the lines of Henry's 

 work, the causes of periodicity, the utility of the prevention of first 

 fruitings as an insurance for larger subsequent crops, the causes of 

 sterility, the question of toxicity of grass, the utility of leguminous 

 covers on various types of soil, etc. All of these open up other 



