COOK THE COCONUT PALM IN AMERICA. 329 



Even when actually hung up or kept in the house coconuts will 

 often germinate and grow a plant 2 feet or more in height. In fact 

 they often do much better when treated this way than when buried 

 in the ground too soon, and it is the regular custom in some tropical 

 countries to germinate coconuts in sheds before planting them in the 

 ground. 



Nevertheless it is difficult to believe that the moisture of the nut 

 and its husk can sustain the plant for so long a period. The possi- 

 bility that atmospheric moisture is drawn upon to replenish the sup- 

 ply may be worthy of consideration, though it seems not to have been 

 regarded in studies of the germination of the coconut. Thus Kirk- 

 wood and Gies declare: 



Xeither the husk nor the shell appears to serve any other than passive mechanical 

 function, and only the constituents of the endosperm and milk, so far as the nut is 

 concerned, nourish the young plant before it finds in the soil the elements provided 

 there in abundance for its growth to maturity. . . . 



The lowest part of the stem contains almost as little solid matter and is nearly as 

 watery as the cotyledon. The percentage of water in the stem diminishes as the 

 distance away from the "root crown" increases. The watery condition of the lower 

 part of the stem is increased, doubtless, by the fact that the surrounding husk is 

 impregnated with water, thus favoring direct absorption by osmosis and at the same 

 time preventing evaporation from the surface of the growing tissue. a 



But on a previous page these writers have referred to chemical 

 analyses which support in a striking manner the suggestion that the 

 husk of the coconut may be able to collect moisture for the benefit of 

 the young plant, and that it is the husk for which the plant makes 

 demands of salt and potash. 



Bachofen's results indicate that sodium chloride and potassium phosphate are the 

 chief inorganic matters drawn upon in the development of the cocoanut — chemical 

 data in harmony with the fact that the cocoa palm does not thrive away from the 

 coast or where salt is lacking in the soil.& 



A summary of Bachofen's analysis is also given, showing that of the 

 important ingredients of the soil 1,000 nuts remove the following 

 quantities: 





Total in 

 pounds. 



Portion 

 in husk. 





8.65 

 2.45 



18.75 

 2.30 



21.42 



3.70 



Phosphoric acid 



.84 



Potash 



13- 52 





1.82 





20.23 







This means that each coconut husk contains about a tablespoonful 

 of salt, to say nothing of the lime and potash, the presence of which 



a Kirkwood and Gies. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, vol. 29, pp. 352, 357. 

 (1902.) 



& Kirkwood and Gies, loc. cit., p. 334. 



