no COCONUT CULTIVATION 



Yield. These average on good plantations 

 80 nuts per tree per annum. Some trees in par- 

 ticular give as many as 150 nuts per annum in 

 three pickings. 



Maturing. A good system in practice in the 

 West is the storing of nuts in large sheds, 

 covered with coconut leaves to allow those not 

 thoroughly ripe to mature. The nuts are carted 

 into the shed as they are picked, and allowed to 

 remain there for one or two months in the cool 

 before they are husked. 



Picking. The West Indian method is un- 

 doubtedly the best. The native climbs the tree, 

 supported at the waist by a rope loop, which 

 leaves both hands free to pick the nuts, and, at 

 the same time, it enables him to remove moss 

 and lichen from the tree. 



A good picker can gather as many as 1200 a 

 day, but to obtain such a figure constant super- 

 vision is necessary. On most estates there are 

 three pickings a year, one in every four months. 



DISEASES 



Like all other plants, especially when grown 

 in large numbers in one place, coconuts are liable 

 to diseases caused by parasitic vegetable organ- 

 isms, fungi, and bacteria. Four such diseases 

 are now well known in the West Indies, while 

 others may eventually be found to occur. Three 



