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with rice, the coco-nut is the main source of food supply of the 

 natives of the coast. 



Owing to the above mentioned conditions, the extent of the coco- 

 nut crop of this district is unknown. Coco-nuts are grown both 

 for home consumption and export. They are not shipped in the 

 husk. The price at the present time is from $12 to §14 gold per 

 thousand. 



Coco-nut plantation in the Colon district of Colombia, are con- 

 fined to a strip of land contiguous to the Atlantic Coast, and to the 

 Island of San Andres, belonging to Colombia, lying about 275 miles 

 from Colon in a north-westerly direction. There are no plantations 

 in the interior. On the coast, by far the greater proportion of coco- 

 nuts is raised by the San Bias Indians, on a strip of country about 

 125 miles long, extending from Point San Bias to Point Tiburon. 

 Besides the plantations owned by these Indians, there is only one 

 other on the coast, the Caribbean Coco-nut Plantation, at Point 

 Toro, across the bay from Colon. This plantation consists of about 

 20,000 trees. 



The entire coco-nut crop of the coast amounts to about 4,000,000 

 nuts a year ; that of the Island of San Andres to about 2,500,000. 



Cocoanut trees are raised by first putting the dry nut on the 

 ground and allowing it to sprout until it attains a height of about 

 two feet. The nut is then put in a hole just deep enough to receive 

 it the sprout remaining above ground. The only attention the palm 

 requires is to keep it free from weeds and other plants until it is 

 five or six years old. After this age it is able to protect itself, and 

 the ground requires very little cleaning. Trees properly attended 

 to will bear in from five to six years. 



All nuts raised in this district are sent to the United States. 

 They are never shipped in husks. The market price fluctuates be- 

 tween $21 and $40 per thousand. From March to September, it 

 rarely reaches more than $25 ; from September to March, $25 to $40. 



Coco-nuts in Ecuador. 



The cultivation of coco-nuts receives very little attention in 

 Ecuador, most of the palms being grown as side issues upon the 

 various estates. The few raised are for local consumption only ; 

 none are shipped. The price is 10 cents, silver (4-\cts. in United 

 States currency) per nut, retail. 



Coco-nuts in The Guianas. 



The coco-nut crop of British Guiana amounts to about 5,000,000 

 nuts annually. The cultivation of cocoa-nuts receives considerable 

 attention in the district of Mahaieony, about 30 miles up the East 

 coast from Georgetown, in the vicinity of the Decerara and Berbice 

 Railway. The nuts are mostly made into oil at the Oil and Fibre 

 Mill at Mahaieony, and the product is sold consumed in the colony. 

 Less than 2,000 husked nuts were exported last year. These were 

 shipped to the British West India Islands. 



The prevailing price in the local market is from $8 to Sio per 

 1 ,000. 



