227 



for generations, with the application of a dressing of manure rlow 

 and then. About 25 feet apart, giving seventy trees to the aere is 

 considered the best distance to plant. Mr. C. Curtis writing from 

 Penang says " Coco-nuts in Penang and Province Wellesley are 

 "selling well, the demand being greater than the supply. Ai- 

 " though local papers here for some time past have quoted the 

 " price as being $28 per 1 ,000 f.o.b., it is long since they have ac- 

 u tually sold for this price. Forward sales for next plucking have 

 "been made at $31 per 1000, delivery to be taken on the spot. 

 " This high price is apparently clue to a shortness in the crop in- 

 " duced by the prolonged drought at the begining of 1901." 



Some interesting remarks on Coco-nuts in Selangor are commu- 

 nicated by Mr. E. V. Carey in the present issue. 



COCO NUTS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



An interesting report regarding the production of coco-nuts in 

 South America was recently issued by the Consular Department 

 at the city of Washington, U. S. A. 



The countries dealt with were Brazil, Colombia Ecuador, the 

 Guianas, Peru, and Venezuela. And the report was based on in- 

 formation received through the consuls at the places mentioned. 



Coco-nuts in Brazil. 



Although a great many coco-nuts are raised in the Bahia con- 

 sular district of Brazil, it does not produce one-third as many as 

 the Pernambuco district, which is particularly rich in coco-nut 

 palms, on account of its peculiar coast formation. 



In the Bahia district, the trees are found wherever there is a 

 settlement, but grow chiefly on the strip of low-lying sandy land 

 along the coast. This land is the most desirable for coco-nut 

 plantations, as the proximity of the salt water makes the trees more 

 productive and the fruit a better quality. Occasionally a piece of 

 land is found at a considerable distance from the coast upon which 

 the palms will flourish, but this is unusual. Single trees art- 

 scattered here and there inland ; but these are raised with consider- 

 able difficulty, produce only an indifferent fruit, and die at an 

 early age. 



The number of trees and their productiveness increases as the 

 Pernambuco district is neared and decreases in the same ratio 

 Southward. The largest plantations are a short distance north of 

 Bahia City, where there is one that has more than 7,000 and several 

 which have as many as 5,000 trees each ; but no particular efforts 

 at cultivation are made. The coco-nuts have simply been planted 

 and allowed to come up and produce what they will, the fruit be- 

 ing gathered from time to time. The owners are usually engaged 

 in other businesses ; the proprietor of the large plantation above 

 mentioned, for instance, is a local merchant. 



It is impossible to get any information as to the extent of the 

 coco-nut crop. The nuts are gathered in all seasons and are used 

 both in the green or soft and in the ripe or hard state by all classes. 

 1 he yield, however, must be enormous, as there are few house- 



