294 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



less permeable ground would be dying from 

 want of water." 



In the case of the loss owing to permeable 

 soils, artificial irrigation during the dry season 

 seems to be of the utmost importance, and any 

 addition to the fertility of the land, either in 

 the form of manure or of a chemical fertilizer, 

 would probably be repaid by an increased yield 

 of fruit. 



Analytical research showed a gradual in- 

 crease in the proportion of meat, copra, and 

 oil, with a corresponding decrease in the per- 

 centage of milk, indicating that the meat be- 

 comes firmer, and loses water, but gains in oil, 

 as the nut increases in age. With some nuts 

 which had been kept for six months the 

 meat remained the same as regards total 

 weight, but there was a marked drop in the 

 proportion of copra and oil, probably due to 

 decomposition or other changes in the meat. 

 Both in very fresh and in over-ripe nuts there 

 is a considerable deficiency in oil, but the 

 principal loss is in the amount of copra to be 

 obtained, due to the higher percentage of 

 water as compared with the solid matter in 

 the meat. In all the nuts the proportion of 

 shell to the whole nut varied but little. 



Whilst there are individual variations among 

 nuts from the same tree, analyses made showed 

 very conclusively the increase in the percentage 

 of copra and oil as the fruit becomes riper. 

 The average percentages of copra and oil, for 



