534 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



well-drained terrace with made up soil and abundant water. A Coco- 

 nut that has been ripened on the tree should be planted with the 

 husk on a bed of old leaf mould in a shady place. In planting lay 

 the large fruit on its side ; from 3 — 6 months is required to germi- 

 nate. When it has formed three or four leaves it can be transplanted 

 safely. Fruit is produced at ages varying from four to twelve years .- 

 In making a Coco-nut plantation in the Thana district plants are 

 reared from selected nuts that have been ripened on the tree.. 

 They are gathered during the hot season, then hung up in the house- 

 for two or three months and afterwards thrown into a well to 

 germinate while floating on the water, or planted in very sandy soil 

 about one foot apart, in a shady place where water can easily be 

 given sufficiently to keep the soil moist. For planting, holes are- 

 dug 18 feet apart in both directions, and a small basket of wood 

 ashes put in to keep oft white ants, which might eat up the albu- 

 men or kernel from which the young plant should draw nourish- 

 ment until it has roots of its own. One year seedlings are suitable 

 if strong, but more commonly two year old plants are set out, then 

 shaded with palm leaves, and the intermediate ground cultivated 

 with annual crops that require irrigation. In any case the young 

 Coco-nut Palms need to have the soil kept moist and well manured 

 until the palms are five j^ears old ; after that it will depend on the 

 nature of the soil, whether irrigation is necessary or not. If water 

 is not available at a short distance from the surface, irrigation must 

 be used. After it is 5 years old if well grown, if not, later by 2 ox 

 3 years, during the rainy season, a ditch is dug round the tree at a 

 distance of 4 feet, cutting some of the roots. Into the ditch a 

 heavy dressing of dry fish or other strong nitrogenous manure is 

 given, and the stem banked up so as to cause the rain-water to soak 

 down near the root instead of running off". If well grown, fruiting*^ 

 begins at 5 years old, but 7 years is a more common age. Grow- 

 ing Coco-nuts requires much capital, because assuming that 

 sufficient wells exist on the estate, an expenditure of Rs. 1,700 per 

 acre during the first seven years may be necessary. In favourable 

 circumstances an income of Rs. 700 may be expected from annual 

 crops planted between the rows of Coco-nut Palm during the same- 

 period. The coco-nut is a tree that lends itself to cultivation 

 greatly, and flourishes very much in proportion to the soil and 

 cultivation it obtains. I have trees that are equally healthy, some 

 60 feet high, and others 70 feet high, that were planted on the 

 same day 18 years ago. The annual expenditure may be reduced, 

 but it rarely occurs that the total expenditure required to bring an 

 acre of Coco-niit trees into full bearing is less than Rs. 7,000. 



The value of the produce depends on the proximity of markets; 

 near Bombay it is estimated to be Rs. 510 yearly per acre, from 

 which an annual cost of cultivation and assessment amounting to- 



