E.C.,  from  which  address  The  India  Rubber  World  is  informed : 
“ Although  our  factory  is  not  yet  ready,  we  have  received  a 
“ substantial  order  for  the  material  for  insulating  wires  from  one  of 
“the  largest  manufacturing  companies  in  England.  We  have 
“ made  arrangements  for  orders  to  be  executed  for  us  by  Messrs. 
“ Feltex  & Guilleauxe  pending  the  completion  of  our  factory 
“ premises  here.” — The  India  Rubber  World,  page  9,  Vol.  27,  Xo.  i. 
COCONUT  PLANTING  IN  FIJI. 
To  The  Editor, 
Tropical  Agriculturist. 
Exormous  Fruitixg  ox  our  Palms. 
Tavixxi,  Fiji, 
February  ^th,  1903. 
Dear  Sir, 
Just  a line  to  describe  a very  peculiar  freak  I have  just  seen. 
A young  coconut  tree,  5 years  old  just  coming  into  bearing  : It  has 
three  spathes  or  blossoms  and  on  the  largest  of  the  tree  I counted 
30  spears  to  the  spathes  and  on  one  of  the  spears  I counted  51  nuts, 
making  a total  of  about  1,500,  on  the  one  spathe.  There  are 
about  1,000  each  on  the  other  two  so  that  at  the  present  time  there 
are  about  3,400  nuts  on  the  tree.  There  are  two  more 
tremendous  spathes  that  will  be  blossoming  in  a few  days, 
when  we  expect  to  see  over  5,000  nuts  on  the  tree — nearly  a ton 
of  copra.  Now  can  you  Ceylon  chaps  beat  that  ? When  you  can, 
let  me  know,  will  you  ? I can  assure  you  it  is  a positive  fact  I 
have  often  seen  from  1,000  to  1,200  nuts  on  a tree,  but  this  caps  all. 
We  are  having  a magnificent  year — better,  in  fact,  than  last,  I 
think.  I am  trying  to  get  hold  of  some  averages  this  year  and  will 
let  you  know  results  by-and-bye.  The  whole  country  is  looking 
very  well. 
Yours  faithfully, 
H.  V.  Tarte. 
A practical  coconut  planter’s  remarks  on  the  above  are  : — 
“The  degree  of  ‘ prolificness  ’ of  the  coconut  palm  varies  greatly, 
and  although  an  average  of  60  nuts  per  tree  per  annum  in  Ceylon 
is  considered  a good  yield,  yet  there  are  individual  trees  which  bear 
400  to  500  nuts  a year.  However,  I have  never  seen  or  heard 
before  of  such  a phenomenon  as  a coconut  spathe  with  1,000  to 
1,500  fruit  on  it.  I doubt  whether  such  a huge  cluster  of  nuts 
would  reach  maturity,  as  the  stalk  is  sure  to  break  down  with  their 
weight  before  the  nuts  are  even  half  ripe.  Trees  of  vigorous  growth 
send  forth  a spathe  once  a month.  The  wonderful  5-year  old  tree, 
your  Fiji  correspondent  refers  to,  has  already  produced  5 spathes, 
all  of  abnormal  size,  and  we  may  expect  at  least  3 more  before  the 
oldest  nuts  are  ripe  enough  to  be  gathered. 
“ The  tree  should  then  carry  over  9,000  nuts,  beside  about 
3 dozen  fronds,  but  would  the  stem  support  such  a ponderous  load  ? 
