THE CUBA REVIEW 



27 



AGRICULTURAL NOTES 



COCONUT CULTIVATION IN ANTIQUA''^' 



Unfortunately, here, as in otiier places, 

 a large percentage of the nuts fail to 

 germinate, and it is advisable to have 

 about 40 per cent more nuts in the nursery 

 than the number of plants that it is de- 

 sired to plant out in the field. The best 

 germination has been obtained when the 

 nuts are planted horizontally, or with the 

 pointed ends turned upward. This agrees 

 with experiments conducted in various 

 parts of the world, which indicate that the 

 least successful results are given when the 

 nuts are planted vertically, with the points 

 either upwards or downwards. 



When one considers that there are about 

 sixty varieties of this nalm, the difference 

 between each mainly consisting in varia- 

 tions in size, shape and character of_ the 

 fruit, it will be seen how necessary it is 

 for seed nuts to be rigidly selected. They 

 should be obtained from middle-aged trees 

 of robust growth, and should be allowed 

 to mature on the trees, and when picked 

 should be lowered, and not thrown down. 

 The size of the nuts must also be con- 

 sidered, depth of flesh and thickness of 

 husk being factors to take into considera- 

 tion when selecting seed for planting pur- 

 poses. — Agricultural News. 



* Abstract of a paper read by Mr. T. Jackson, 

 curator of the Botanic Station, on March 10, 1911, 

 at a meeting of the Antiqua Agricultural and Com- 

 mercial Society. 



COCONUT YIELDS AND USES 



Coconut plantations thrived best in the 

 Bombay Province of India, near the sea 

 shore ; though the coconut did grow as 

 far inland as 150 to 200 miles from the 

 sea, it thrived best up to 5 or 6 miles from 

 the coast, as it requires a constant sea- 

 breeze. It grew well on sandy soils, free 

 from stones or clay and reasonably re- 

 moved from the approach of sea-water. 

 The Hfe of a coconut tree was eighty to 

 one hundred years, but it gave its best re- 

 turn when it was twenty to forty years of 

 age, though it afforded an average yield 

 ten years after being planted. Each tree 

 yielded 125 to as much as 800 nuts per 

 year, though the mean maj^ be taken as 

 150 to 200 nuts. The coconut tree was 

 of all-round importance in Bombay, as 

 nothing of the plant was wasted. The 

 stem served as the building material of the 

 cultivators, the leaves formed the thatch- 

 ing material, the ribs of the leaves were 

 made into good brooms, the core afforded 

 excellent ropes which were much valued 

 in navigation, also it served as an excel- 

 lent material for making mats and 

 brushes ; good buttons were made from 



the inner hard shell ; the copra yielded a 

 pood edible oil, and the oil cake formed 

 a valuable cattle food. The coconut oil 

 was used in cooking or as a substitute for 

 butter ; also for the toilet, for burning, 

 and for making soaps and candles. The 

 tree was tapped for extracting a beverage 

 called "madi," which was either drunk or 

 evaporated down to concrete sugar Cgul) 

 and was used as such or sold for refin- 

 ing. 



COPRA CAKE IN DAIRY INDUSTRY 



Dairy experts in Australia state that the 

 use of cake made from copra is most 

 beneficial in keeping cows in excellent con- 

 dition, and in maintaining the milk supply 

 at profitable levels. The best feature of 

 the feed for the Australian dairy farmer 

 is that the ration can be nicely adjusted 

 to the supply of grass in the pastures. If 

 milk cows are heavily fed while they are 

 running on good grass, the actual return 

 from this cake is less than when the hand 

 feeding is so adjusted as to supply what 

 is lacking in the grass. If long dry spells 

 of weather occur, as are frequent in 

 Australia, the milk supply of a cow feed- 

 ing on natural grass alone may decrease 

 from perhaps 12 quarts to 6 quarts a day 

 or less, but if the deficient grass diet is 

 supplemented by oil cake the normal 

 supply is again forthcoming. Thus the 

 demand for such cakes varies greatly with 

 weather conditions affecting the natural 

 fodders. 



The use of copra cake in connection 

 with poultry raising is increasing, as it 

 apparently results in a gain in egg pro- 

 duction. 



An important use of soap made with 

 coconut oil is for emulsions for spraying 

 fruits and potatoes affected with various 

 diseases. 



THE CUBAN TOMATO 



A despised member of the tomato 

 family, the small Cuban variety, is looked 

 down upon by colonists generally. It is 

 of small size, less firm and not so good 

 in flavor as its imported cousin. Yet it 

 possesses desirable qualities lacking in 

 northern varieties grown here. It is a 

 much stronger and more vigorous grower 

 and will luxuriate in soils and under con- 

 ditions where all others would die. It 

 fruits much more heavily and its season 

 is at least twice as long as that of the im- 

 ported kinds. Moreover, we believe the 

 Cuban tomato is easily susceptible of im- 

 provement and will amply repay any atten- 

 tion given to it by scientific plant breeders. 



