258 



The trees are planted 25 feet apart. They are male and female, 

 and the former predominate, 10 per cent of male trees is sufficient. 

 It is recommended to plant 2 trees in a hole — 2 feet distant — and 

 when the tiowers appear, the male can be removed. 



A crop may be expected after 7 years, and there are usually three 

 crops in the year. The ripe nut takes 6 months to grow from the 

 flower. Some of my trees are sickly, but that is owing to neglect, or 

 to having a Durian tree, witli its long roots, near them. A fungus is 

 to be found on the leaves of some trees, but it does not appear to be 

 injurious. 



Slugs will eat the mace, if the fruit is not picked up daily. 

 Half my nutmegs I sell unripe to the Chinese, who make preserves 

 of them. Excellent jelly is made of the skins. 



R. Little. 



A FURTHER USE FOR THE COCONUT. 



The fruit of the coconut is made into copra, which is the chief 

 ingredient of soap, &e. It is also made into sweetmeats, &c. The 

 husk or coir is made into rope and mats, and used for mattresses 

 and furniture. 



No extensive use has hitherto been made of the shell. It is pro- 

 posed to send it to Europe, for button manufacture. Buttons are 

 already made out of it, on a small scale, by the natives, and they 

 command a ready sale. 



Glass buttons are chiefly made in Bohemia. Pearl buttons are 

 almost exclusively a Vienna product, but shirt buttons are made 

 chiefly in Birmingham, which is also the seat of the metal button 

 trade. The most extensive kind of button manufacture is that of the 

 Parisian and Berlin novelties. 



Pi. Little. 



A PLEA FOR VEGETABLE CULTIVATION. 



Tobacco may be grown in Sumatra, and wheat in Manitoba, without 

 manure, but in England, Australia and New Zealand, manure is es- 

 sential for successful vegetable growing. Such being the case, it is 

 not to be wondered at, that the cultivation of English vegetables with 

 little or no manure, has hitherto not been successful in Singapore. 



On referring to books of gardening, I find for lettuces, for example, 

 that 2 cwt. stable manure, should be applied to a bed 16£' x 16V, 

 and about 2 lbs., of nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia. Also 

 liquid manure, during the growth of the plants. I visited a house 

 recently, in which a lady of the house, had sown a square yard of 

 lettuces, and they were doing splendidly. 



In England, there is a tomato farm that covers 30 acres. This 

 year the number under cultivation is 380,000. In British Columbia a 

 grower obtained 81.000 gold last year from a single acre of tomatos. 

 I have purchased a tin of English vegetable seeds, and hope to give 

 the result of my experience. 



