NURSERIES GERMINATING 27 



practicable should personally supervise the col- 

 lecting of his seed nuts and thus become 

 acquainted with their family history. 



Nurseries. The land selected for the nursery 

 ground should be of rich soil, light and free, 

 prepared by trenching 18 inches deep, formed 

 into beds with 2 feet intervals; the earth 

 should be removed to a depth of 6 inches and 

 piled in the intervals; pack the nuts close 

 together in the beds with the stalk ends up ; 

 fill in spaces between nuts with earth removed, 

 leaving the crown only above the surface ; water 

 well to settle the soil round the nuts and shade 

 beds with grass or straw. The natives are alive 

 to the necessity of watering plants, and they 

 have a pretty adage, specially applied to this 

 part of the cultivation. It is: "Water me 

 continually during my youth and I will quench 

 thy thirst abundantly during the whole course 

 of my life." A thin layer of sand tends to 

 prevent the ground getting sodden, which in turn 

 causes roots to rot. 



Native Method of Germinating Seed. Seed 

 nuts are tied in pairs by a portion of the outside 

 husk and then hung from a stretcher supported 

 at a height of 6 feet from the ground in a 

 sheltered spot. Leaves and roots soon appear, 

 and the young plants are ready to be removed 

 for planting out at the customary period. 



From the nursery bed the seedlings, at the age 



