152 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



point of view, to be met with in Mexico ; 

 lands which are annually overflowed in a 

 manner comparable only with the inundation we 

 associate with the Nile, and, therefore, very 

 suitable for producing large regular yields. 

 Tabasco, especially, he maintains, should be 

 one of the most important centres of coco-nut 

 production in the world, as the acreage is vast, 

 the soils are light, rich, and deep, and some- 

 times, as at Frontera, calcareous. The roots 

 of the palms, therefore, will have the necessary 

 amount of water, which, with the requisite 

 mineral and other plant foods held in solution, 

 constantly seeps down toward the rivers. 

 This underground water movement would 

 exert its great potency upon the palms, con- 

 stantly refreshing the feeding area of the roots. 

 Accompanying other advantages is high illumi- 

 nation of the air, and all the conditions for 

 perfect transpiration, and planters of reliable 

 testimony maintain that trees of fourteen years 

 yield as many as 200 nuts per annum. 



Mr. de Berry further states that he ex- 

 amined fine specimens of nuts taken from 

 palms in Chiapas, 1 20 miles inland, and he 

 also inspected excellent fruit on the Isthmus, 

 as at the Dos Rios Estates, 90 miles inland. 

 In Oaxaca is also produced a small quantity of 

 coco-nut oil. The palms grow luxuriantly 

 near Colima, and in Juquila the palms of the 

 Corozos prove the suitability of the soil for the 

 growth of the coco-nut. A palm yielding a 



