"748 



thickness of the meat (copra) has been found to be the same 

 in both cases), the difference being considered entirely due to 

 selection—" to increase the size of the nuts " and '^ to reduce the 

 percentage of the envelopes " — the trees from which this conclu- 

 sion was drawn were grown in the same soil and climate of the 

 Seychelles (Ann. Rep. Bot. Station, Seychelles, 1904 : Agric. 

 News Barbados, April 14th, 1906, p. 127). 



The plants are usually raised in Nurseries, the nuts being 

 placed on their sides — in an experiment 92 per cent, of nuts 

 germinated thus : but only 60 per cent, out of nuts placed 

 standing up on end (Kew. Bull. 1915, p. 75) — about 18 in. apart 

 and deep enough to cover' about two-thirds or so of the nut in 

 the soil. It is recommended to keep the nuts for about a month 

 in a dry airy place before planting. Germination takes from 

 4-5 months and the young plants may be planted out in the 



plantation at distances of about 25-30 ft. when they have 

 developed 3 or 4 leaves. 



Green manuring and cover crops such as Canavalia ensiformis 

 {see p. 221), Tephrosia purpurea {see p. 195) and other leguminous 

 p]ants (p. 179) are recommended, *' Ground Nut " {Arachis 

 Jiypogaea) is a good catch-crop in the early years of the plantation 

 as well as for green manuring {see p. 201). 



A tropical climate with a good rainfall, a rich, deep, well- 

 drained calcareous soil near the sea are conditions favourable 

 to good growth; although considering the wide distribution the 

 best soil is open to question and may vary considerably. It 

 may also be difficult to say without reserve if the tree is essentially 

 a halophyte, the probability is that it is not, seeing that it does 

 not thrive in swamps and has been found to do well in situations 

 distinctly free from the influence of salt. *' Extends up the 

 Niger to Idda, where it fruits at 120 miles from the sea," and 

 " I have two young trees at Lukoja more than 150 miles from 

 the nearest salt water " (Baikie at Bida, Feb. 18th, 1862 — I.e. 

 p. 105). Ilorin mentioned above is 250 miles from the coast 

 and over 1000 ft. above sea level; some of the trees referred to 

 were stated to be bearing quite good crops of nuts ; the soil 

 was described as an ideal coco-nut soil, light and sandy, almost 

 as sandy as the sea shore and the land undulating, covered with 

 grass, \\dth here and there a tree giving it the apj^earance of 

 park-land. Plantations in Nevis, West Indies, where palms in 

 their third jesix have been found to jdeld full-sized nuts and 

 good crops in 5 years are on old sugar cane land which is almost 

 at sea-level, soil a nice loam gradually getting lighter untU it 

 becomes pure sand on the sea-shore (Kew Bull. 1915, p. 75). 

 Trees begin to yield in paying quantities when about 5-8 years 

 old. Some experience is required to know just when the nuts 

 are ripe enough to gather; they usually fall when sufficiently 

 mature; but in practice this cannot always be waited for — 

 harvesting being done at least 3 or 4 times a year — and native 

 la>>c»nrrr?5 climb the trees to cut them do^v^Ti — about 400-500 nuts^ 



