THE COCONUT AND ITS USES. 19 



by the rains, or it may subsequently be made level by 

 means of a top-dressing of light, rich soil. 



Another system is to transplant the seedlings from 

 the seed-beds to a piece of good land that has been well 

 dug and manured, planting from 3 to 6 feet apart, accord- 

 ing to the length of time it is intended they should re- 

 main. The plants should be kept well watered and free 

 from weeds and pests. When two and a half or three 

 years old they are lifted and transplanted to their per- 

 manent positions. This system admits of a selection 

 of the best seedlings from the seed-bed for transplanting 

 to the nursery, and of a further selection for forming 

 the permanent plantation upon which the trees should 

 be planted out, 30 by 30. 



Watering is essential to a coconut plantation, and only 

 light catch crops should be grown in between the trees 

 (e.g., sweet potatoes, cotton, pine-apples, and pulses). 

 About the fourth or fifth year these crops should be 

 abandoned, and cattle tethered to the trees to graze. 



A series of manurial experiments with coconuts in 

 Trinidad and Tobago indicated that only in one instance 

 was the increase in yield sufficient to compensate for 

 the cost of treatment, the notable exception being on 

 the King's Bay Estate, where the application of a mix- 

 ture of 2 Ibs. of dissolved bone and 1 Ib. of sulphate of 

 potash per tree has given a steady yearly increase. 



The entire coconut fruit is not often seen in Europe. 

 Ovoid in shape, it is covered by a waterproof epidermis 

 or outer skin, attached to the inside of which is a thick 

 fibrous cushion known as the husk, and the well-known 

 nut is embedded within this husk in much the same 

 manner that a peach stone is embedded within the flesh 



