Manuring 313 



is by no means a small consideration, for a 

 quicker return on the outlay is thus assured. 

 Experiments on the manuring of coco-nut 

 palms are still in progress, and up to the 

 present we have only the guidance of the 

 analyses of the various products removed by 

 a year's harvest. Dr. Bachofen has shown 

 by analyses that a crop of 1,000 nuts, i.e., the 

 produce of half an acre, removes the following 

 quantities of plant food from the soil : 



Nitrogen 8'6 Ib. 



Phosphoric acid ... ... ... 2-4 ,, 



Potash 18-7 ,, 



Lime 2-3 ,, 



Salt 21-4 ,, 



making a total of 53*4 Ib. of plant foods 

 removed from the soil of half an acre by the 

 crop alone, and besides this the trees have also 

 to be considered and provided for. 



These figures give us a working basis on 

 which we can build up a manure mixture to 

 replenish the soil with the more important 

 plant foods. Assuming that fifty trees go to 

 the acre, and the average harvest is fifty nuts 

 per tree, then this means that 21 \ Ib. nitrogen, 

 6 Ib. phosphoric acid, and 47 Ib. potash are 

 removed. These figures are taken from 

 analyses of the nuts, so that allowing for the 

 growth of, and nourishment for, the trees, we 

 arrive at the following figures as being neces- 

 sary for each acre after the removal of the 

 crop : 



