16 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



of growth, the condition of coco-nut trees, or plantations, 

 and their probable future production, and to give him 

 such technical expertness that he can make these 

 determinations rapidly and accurately. The trees at 

 the College of Agriculture are on land which is not well 

 adapted to this crop. The soil is shallow and heavy, 

 and there is not at all times a proper supply of ground 

 water. Moreover, the trees were largely infested by 

 beetles when the land was purchased and such trees 

 never grow as rapidly as healthy ones would grow. 

 Some of the trees were about ready to come into bearing 

 when the land was bought, but others were so young 

 that they have not yet come to maturity. The average 

 of all the determinations which have been made here 

 would therefore not be a fair figure as an indication of 

 what ought to be expected from coco-nuts. In one of 

 the groves which is best situated and in which the sound 

 trees are now in bearing, there are groups of trees in 

 which the average growth of the youngest visible leaf 

 is more than 4 centimetres a day. I believe that this 

 figure may be taken as what ought to be expected of 

 any coco-nuts on a tolerably well situated and managed 

 estate. 



Keally good conditions or management will give 

 higher figures than this. Thus, the nine trees observed 

 by one student for the week ending November 25, 1911, 

 snowed the following growth in millimetres : 324, 399, 

 390, 427, 336, 345, 338, 375, 415. Tree No. 4, to 

 choose one at random, showed the following growth at 

 weekly intervals from August 24, 1911, to February 

 28, 1912: 316, 319, 217, 293, 395, 391, 462, 444, 

 422, 427, 403, 406, 798 (two weeks), 387, 367, 360, 

 349, 357, 347, 349, 351, 352, 365, 382, 384, 383, 382. 



Young trees grow considerably more slowly than do 

 adult trees. There is a progressive increase in the rate 

 of growth from the time that young trees are first well 

 established in their permanent places, at least up to the 

 time that they come into full fruit. It is probable that 

 the average rate in a grove continues to increase beyond 



