46 

 The most productive months are from January to June, that Is 

 for ripe nuts, the heat bringing qulcKly to maturity. 



VIThen the roots of the trees can reach water and the soil 

 la alluvial, a tree In full vigor will bear eight, ten, or a 

 dozen of peduncles flourishing in the course of five or six 

 weeks ; In other and higher lands not more than six. In 

 favorable localities each peduncle will bear from five toflf- 

 teen nuts, so that the yield of a tree can be safely put down 

 at more than a hundred In the year. These ripen successively, 

 and there may thus be seen at the same time flowers and fruit. 



The trunk often attains a helgiit of 90 feet, with a diam- 

 eter of three feet at the base and one foot at the summit. 



One hundred cocoanuts perfectly grown and carefully dried 

 will, it is generally calculated, yield when pressed ten to 

 thirteen edang-alies (each containing 92 cubic Inches) of oil 

 (40 nuts to an imperial gallon) . Inferior cocoanuts will 

 vary from three to nine edangalies ; fruit taken fr6m trees on 

 salt marshes have the least oil. 



When the trees begin to show the fruit on shoot, or spathe, 

 it is often thought advisable to extract the Juices for toddy, 

 and not allow the blossoms to be grown ; but this- only in the 

 monsoon, and for that reason only. This is supposed to render 

 the future fruit bunches more numerous and give the sap a ten- 

 dency to flow. In some places trees are never allowed to 

 bear fruit, but toddy is always extracted. Drawing toddy for 

 a fev; months is thought to check the habit in some trees of 

 dropping immature fruit, and again of preventing injurious 



