154 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



analysis. This is the quicker method. But in inexpert 

 hands even a good chemical analysis is not a safe guide 

 to practise, and even in the most competent hands 

 it is most valuable as a guide to experimentation. 

 A number of analyses of the parts of the coco-nut tree 

 or of whole trees, and of the products, have been made 

 in different parts of the tropics. Some of these analyses 

 are on their face not reliable, because the total of 

 constituents falls too far short of one hundred per cent. 

 Others seem to be good analyses, but are based on so 

 little material that they cannot be assumed to indicate 

 general conditions even for the locality where made. 

 And the remaining published analyses, which come 

 down to not more than three sets of figures made in 

 different countries, constitute together too small an 

 amount of information to be more than a general 

 indication of the demands which the coco-nuts make 

 upon the food in the soil. There are many crops of 

 temperate countries concerning which we have such 

 complete information as to the chemical composition 

 and the demands upon the soil, that it is possible from 

 the analysis of the produce of a given piece of land 

 to state almost positively that the crop in question 

 has, or has not had, a proper supply of each of the 

 most essential elements. In the case of the coco-nut, 

 the information is so meagre that it would be ridiculous 

 to draw such a conclusion from any analysis. 



Our knowledge of the chemical composition of coco- 

 nuts, and of the products which are usually marketed, 

 is summed up in essential in the following tables. The 

 first table gives the weight of each part of a nut and 

 the per cent of the whole nut. The figures are averages, 

 based on the number of nuts indicated at the head of 

 each column. 



[Table 



