The Seed-nuts 175 



more than one estate to choose from, then go 

 to that one on which the soil most closely 

 resembles the conditions of soil and other 

 items on your own lands, and where the 

 estate generally presents, on casual view, the 

 best and most flourishing appearance. 



Of further use is the observance of the 

 number and size of the fruit bundles in the 

 palms. It will also pay to have an eye to the 

 copra-sheds or places where the making of 

 this commodity is carried on. When a locality 

 is notoriously infested with " rhinoceros " or 

 boring beetles, " Rhynchophorus ferrugineus " 

 (a small black beetle with long proboscis), rats, 

 squirrels or white ants, it is advisable to be 

 doubly careful. Never buy from such an 

 estate if you can do as well elsewhere. We 

 fully discuss these pests and the means of 

 combating them in another section. 



The best seed-nuts come from palms which 

 are in the prime of their condition, say from 

 the twelfth to the twentieth year of age, which 

 is the period of highest vitality of the coco-nut 

 palm tree. Although the actual life of the 

 tree exceeds in many instances half a century, 

 and while they bear their fullest capacity long 

 after the ages given for seed plucking, this 

 fact is so well established by long experience 

 and practice that it would not be judicious 

 to depart from it. With a little care and 

 practice it is not difficult to acquire the knack 

 of distinguishing the more suitable trees from 



