COCO-PALM. TOBACCO. 269 



or pulp contains, according to Brande, 25 per cent, of oil, and the 

 shell, 26 per cent, of the pulp. It is calculated here that thirty- 

 three nuts give one gallon of oil : the prevailing plan is to give 

 sixty nuts, for which a gallon of oil is returned. Excepting the 

 establishment of Mr. John Carter, which is conducted on an im- 

 proved plan, the extraction of the oil is rather a primitive process. 

 The cultivation of the coco-palm evidently suits the habits of our 

 population, as it requires little labour : the only matter of sur- 

 prise is, that it is not carried out on a more extensive scale. 



There exist in Pulo Pinang, Ceylon, and other places in the 

 east, fine coco-palm plantations, or, as they are termed here, 

 coco-walks. These are formed, according to S. Itier, in the 

 following manner : the nuts required for plants are selected from 

 healthy full-grown trees ; they are laid in the ground in a shaded 

 place, and barely covered with fine earth : as soon as the leaves 

 become pinnated and the roots begin to appear out of the husk, 

 they are removed and planted at intervals of from 33 to 40 feet. 

 The young trees are manured with stale fish, guano, or compost 

 containing a certain proportion of salt. On the coast of Coro- 

 mandel, they place a handful of salt in each hole. In the best 

 localities, the coco-tree begins to bear at between six and seven 

 years' growth ; and, it is calculated that each tree yields, annually, 

 eighty nuts, which generally sell at the rate of 1 dollar 50 cents 

 per hundred on an average : 5,000 trees would therefore give 

 400,000 nuts, yielding about 13,700 gallons of oil, or at the rate 

 of one gallon for thirty nuts, each tree yielding three gallons. 

 The price being 42 cents per gallon, each tree would then give a 

 gross revenue of 1 dollar 26 cents, or a net return of 84 cents 

 per annum, allowing 33 per cent, for expenses. The chief enemy 

 of the coco-tree is a species of coleoptera, which fixes its abode at 

 the base of the leaves, and, by degrees, penetrates into the cen- 

 tral bud and the very heart of the palm. If not promptly 

 removed, the tree soon withers and dies. So destructive were 

 the ravages of this insect, at Singapore, that the inhabitants were 

 thereby compelled to abandon the cultivation of the coco-palm. 

 It is destroyed either by using an iron rod, hooked at the 

 extremity, and by which the hole bored by the insect is thoroughly 

 probed, or by pouring a strong solution of salt into the tuft of 

 leaves. 



Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Trinidad tobacco, from the dis- 



