THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



In Porto Rico the water of the green 

 coconut is relished by everybody. It 

 is almost a national beverage, and a 

 wholesome germ-free beverage it is — abso- 

 lutely free from chemical adulteration and 

 ptomaine poisoning. All through the day 

 and late at night in Porto Rican cities may 

 be heard the welcome call of the coco de- 

 aqua vendor. 



In some parts of the East the fruit 

 stalks are cut while green and tender, 

 and the stub is attached to a light bamboo 

 trough. Several flower-stalks may be thus 

 treated and several little troughs may be 

 led to one spot where there is a receptacle 

 in the form of a big gourd or calabash 

 awaiting the liquid which oozes out and 

 trickles down to form a cider or toddy. 



Could one imagine a state more seraphic 



The blossoms of tlie coco palm, which sometimes 

 yields a nut for every day in the year 



under five, it bears a bunch of nuts, fol- 

 lowed by other bunches in all stages of 

 growth. 



Then the mangrove island is fit for 

 human habitation, fit for the home of some 

 smoky colored, semi-nude sea-islander, who 

 from this palm can garner all the necessi- 

 ties and a few of the luxuries of life. With 

 the fish in the sea by the shore, and the 

 turtles that lay on the beach, starvation 

 is no't possible. Man's ultimate wants 

 are shelter, food, and drink. The coco 

 palm supplies them all, with more besides. 



The Negro who lives in the shade of 

 this useful tree has also fortunately de- 

 veloped a thick skuU-shell, covered with 

 a mat of tow. And well so, since the fall 

 of a coconut from a sixty-foot palm is 

 nigh like a ball from the cannon's mouth. 

 A single fruit of the double coconut of 

 the Seychelle Islands weighs from forty 

 to fifty pounds. Our common coconut 

 when green will weigh at least five pounds. 

 Over in Brazil men wear bucklers of wood 

 to protect themselves from the fall of the 

 balls of Brazil-nuts. These actually plant 

 themselves when they hit the soft, moist 

 earth of the jungle. 



Still there are scientists at work who 

 have proven, to their own satisfaction 

 at least, that the coconut does not float 

 far, that it soon loses its vitality when 

 soaked in salt water, that it rarely sprouts 

 when washed upon the beach, and that 

 it has been distributed completely round 

 the globe mainly by the hand of man. 



The waves wash the tree half over, 

 break over it with great fury and bang 

 great booms against it in times of storm, 

 but it lives on and bears on in spite of 

 abuse. Dig i-t up carefully and pet it 

 with fertihzer, and it will more than likely 

 turn yellow and die. Cut off its tough 

 fibrous roots to the stub, and cut off its 

 leaves, then stick it in the ground as you 

 would plant a fence-post, and it will very 

 likely live. 



Coco nuts in one of the earlier stages of growth. 

 Later, they bend the stalk ivith their w^eight 



to the minds of many men than a hut 

 closely surrounded by coco palms with 

 bamboo conduits leading this cidery juice 

 slowly, but continuously, into a receptacle 

 on the kitchen table? 



From the outside of the nut comes the 

 husk or coir which is used for cordage and 

 woven into tough matting for church 

 aisles, office floors, etc. 



The oil which is expressed from the 

 copra, or dried meat of the nut, enters 

 into butter, soap, etc. 



The hard shells are carved and used 

 for utensils of various kinds. 



The trunk wood is poor and hard on 

 tools. It is used, nevertheless, because 

 it is cheap and answers the purpose, 

 although, of course, a fine full-bearing 

 coco palm is never cut for its wood. It 

 is called "porcupine wood" because it 

 has hard bundles of tissue in it which, 

 when cut on the slant, appear like spines 

 in the wood. The heart is spongy, but 



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the outer layer, although rough, is tough 

 and durable. 



A coco palm usually bears a terrific 

 weight of fruit, and bears it continuously, 

 but if it fails the native hacks it or drives 

 iron into it or cuts deep notches into the 

 trunk, which at the same time facilitate 

 climbing, and lo! it bears — bears because 

 its vegetative activity has been restrained, 

 and, like every other creature on earth, 

 strives all the more to perpetuate its kind. 



Among the leaves around the stem 

 there is a natural cloth, to be sure not 

 woven with warp and woof, but of such 

 a nature that primitive man could have 

 easily taken the hint. I don't know 

 whether this cloth is ever used for wear- 

 ing apparel or not, certainly not in the 

 majority of even remote regions where 

 gunny sacks are plentiful. 



There are those who grow passionately 

 fond of the coco palm, especially when 

 grouped by the shimmering particolored 

 sea of the tropics. There is nothing 

 sorrowful about them; in the breeze they 

 never emit a whining tune as do the pines, 

 but a lusty clattering and banging. I 

 heard an old sailor once say that he wanted 

 to be buried in the shade of a coco palm 

 by the shore. 



But like all good things on earth it has 

 its tormentors. In parts of the West 

 Indies it has fallen a prey to a fungous 

 blight. Strong efforts are being used 

 to check its spread, and close watch should 

 be kept to prevent it from entering Florida 

 from Cuba, since in south Florida there are 

 many coco palms, and many acres of land 

 where they can be successfully planted. 



How the coconut sprouts through its thick outer 

 husk. In five years this ■wUl bear fruit 



