THE OOCOANTJT PALM. 



221 



and the plants, if any be successfully reared, on transplanting will 

 grow very rapidly and acquire bulk, but tbe fruit will drop before the 

 kernel acquires consistency, the root stalks break, and the treea 

 entirely fail before mid age. 



The nuts for seed should not, on being gathered, be allowed to fall 

 to the earth, but be lowered in a basket or fastened to a rope. If 

 let fall, the polished cover to the fibres will be injured and collect 

 damp about the nut, or the shell inside may be cracked, and the 

 water disturbed. These are fatal injuries, or even if the plants 

 still grow, they will on being transplanted not make fresh shoots, 

 but produce weak trees having their fronds constantly drying up, 

 nuts rarely matured, and often are even without kernel in those 

 which appear perfect. If the nuts are allowed to dry on the tree 

 before gathering, the plants are liable to be lost, not having water 

 inside to cherish the growth of the sprout (before the actual roots 

 shoot into the soil). 



The seed nuts, after being gathered, should be carefully kept for 

 not less than a month before they are planted (in order that some of 

 the moisture be absorbed, and the hard outer skin or rind be rendered 

 dry and waterproof). If the seed be immediately planted, the outer 

 pod with the containing fibres will rot, and there will be no sprout. 

 The eye will rot, or be a long time sending out the shoot, which will 

 inevitably produce a weak, profitless plant. On the other hand, 

 should a longer time intervene between gathering and planting seed 

 than prescribed, the capsule of the fruit will fall off, and consequently 

 the exposure to damp and rain will affect the eyes ; there will then be 

 no plants, or very indifferent ones. The seeds should be planted on 

 an elevated plot or bed of land, where water will not stagnate. The 

 plants will be strong if the nuts are placed on the hard sandy court- 

 yard of the planter's dwelling house ; or if placed in flower-pots with 

 good spil and sand in them, no damage will be done by white ants, 

 and v^ry few will fail to germinate. If, however, they are placed on 

 a hard soil which the roots cannot penetrate, and exposed to the sun, 

 the water inside will dry up, damage will be done by ants, and those 

 few that throw out shoots will be weak, and on transplanting, the 

 roots will break and the sprouts be severed from the nuts. If, on the 

 other hand, they are deposited on uneven ground or too moist soils, 

 both the fibrous covering and the eyes will rot, and the seeds come to 

 grief. 



Nurseries should be somewhat exposed to the influence of the sun, 

 though not too much heat ; plants thus grown will even, though defi- 

 cient in stature, be strong, and when transplanted will not fail nor 

 suffer from heat. Should plants, however, hav.e but little sun, no great 

 harm is done ; but if they be grown entirely under cover, insects will 

 infest them, the stems will be long, tapering, and weak, the fronds 

 will be often unable to sustain their own weight, and when trans- 

 planted, eaeh successive hot season will affect the trees. 



The planting of the nuts should take place from January to April, 

 and also in August, provided the rains are not heavy, and then the 

 planter may expect fruitful trees to be produced when grown ; but 

 nurseries formed during the heavy monsoon will generally fail, or 



