THE COCOANUT PALM. 



223 



they .be transplanted six months after the shoot makes its first appear- 

 ance, their safe growth and vigour may be looked for. In low-lying 

 lands, however, it is preferable to have plants of one year's growth, 

 though they are more difficult in managing. The only benefit to be 

 expected in transi)lanting older plants is that the planter looks for an 

 earlier return, and in planting these on the banks of rivers or low 

 lands formed from the wash of the monsoons, the crops will not be 

 deficient. Plants left too long in the nursery and then removed are 

 apt to have the fibrous supports at the foot of the fronds decay, so 

 that these hang down, wither, and dry up, and new fronds and leaves 

 do not make their appearance for four or more months, and these 

 generally die prematurely. Some of the planters give it as their 

 opinion that the transplanting may be effected from January to May, 

 and again in August, October, and November (i. e. omitting the wet 

 months). Perhaps, however, the general rule should be, that in low, 

 damp situations, planting may be effected during the hot season, in 

 salt marshes and on hill-sides during the monsoon. It is said that 

 those trees planted from January to June will yield fruit for eight 

 months in the year, and those planted in October for six months, 

 while those planted in June and July in the heavy rains will scarcely 

 be fruitful at all. Different places and soils require different seasons 

 for this operation, to be learned only from experience or observation 

 of neighbouring gardens. Soils suitable for a cocoanut plantation 

 are variously described as below, particularly observing that stony 

 grounds, or those overlying rocky foundations, are to be avoided : 



1. Soils mixed with sand, either dark-coloured or river-washed. 



2. Where sand is mixed with clay, ferruginous earth, or black 

 mould. 



8. Clayey soils where the under strata consist of sand. 



4. Sand and clay, even when mixed with gravel and pebbles. 



5. The sea-shore banks of backwaters, rivers, tanks, and paddy- 

 fields. 



6. Alluvium of rivers and backwaters, provided a yard and a half 

 of land is to be generally seen above water level. 



7. Marshy land even in brackish soils (but not where salt is 

 formed in crystals by evaporation). 



8. All level lands exposed to the sea breeze where the soil is good, 

 as the valleys between hills, tanks, and ditches, which have been 

 filled up. 



9. Lastly, even the floors of ruined houses well worked up, and 

 any places much frequented by cattle and human beings, on account 

 of the ashes and salts of ammonia from the urine, &c., deposited day 

 by day in the soil. 



Sunlight is most beneficial to the cocoanut tree ; it increases the 

 number of successive fronds and the crops of fruit, while if much 

 shade is caused by trees of other kinds, there is a tendency in the 

 lower part of the cocoanut stem to thicken, while the upper part 

 grows thin and attenuated, with fronds at considerable intervals and 

 little fruit. 



Exposure to regular breezes is also beneficial, for the constant 

 movements of the tree tops have a tendency to strengthen and enliven 



