and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— September, 1912. 249 



feet long by 7 feet high) contains heating pipes 

 made of sheet-iron (2 ft. diam.) laid lengthways. 

 These pipes have a furnace at one end and a tall 

 smoke stack (25 ft. to 30 ft.) at the other. The 

 masonry walls carry a broad spreading floor, 

 with a roof over the whole, whilst over the pipes 

 is a system of hurdles of a handy size 4 feet by 

 2 feet, numbering as many as 200, on which the 

 coconut meat is laid. Fresh air and the necessary 

 draught is admitted by means of small holes 

 through the lower part of the masonry." 



The difference between the kiln ss described 

 and illustrated to me, and this is that the flues 

 in the first instance were said to be placed zig- 

 zag fashion and the first flue was of masonry. 

 The fresh air was admitted between each row of 

 trays by long horizontal openings in the back wall. 



This kiln is said to have a capacity of drying 

 1,700 lb. of copra in 24 hours. Is I have said 

 already on this subject, the kernels have to be 

 detached from the shells in strips before being 

 put on the drying trays. 



In the chapter on German East Africa occurs 

 a passage which will afford food for thought 

 to the Hon. SirChristoffel and the Government 

 at the present juncture. " The negro a native 

 black, is inordinately fond of intoxicants, and 

 the easiest way to satisfy this craving is to tap the 

 coconut palm of its sap, which when fermented, 

 yields a very potent beverage, pleasant to the 

 palate of the African worshippers of Bacchus." 



There are several chapters on clearing and 

 preparing land for planting Seed-nuts—nurser- 

 ies, Laying out Plantations, Care and Upkeep, 

 Diseases, describing at length the bleeding dis- 

 ease and quoting largely from Petch. The 

 chapter on diseases is very comprehensive. 



To me, an ardent Agriculturist, the Chapter 

 on Manuring is the most interesting and valu- 

 able portion of this book. 



A table is given showing the quantities of 

 manurial constituents to be found in the husk, 

 shell, meat and milk of a coconut. Taking 7,000 

 nuts as the yield of a hectare (2J acres) a table 

 is given of the quantities of Nitrogen Phos- 

 phoric Acid and Potash removed by the above 

 crop and by the leaves : — 



Annual Loss. Nit. Pot. Phos. Acid. 

 Nuts per 



Hectare Kilos 59 43 60*55 16'73 

 Leaves „ 31-69 74 82 2465 



Total Loss „ 91-12 135 37 41-38 

 I will not concern myself with the manurial 

 ingredients required for the formation of the 

 leaves. In my manuring operations, I always 

 32 



endeavour to return to the soil only what the 

 crops remove, and allow the soil to yield suffi- 

 cient nutriment to the tree to form the fronds, 

 &c. Well, taking 3,000 nuts as the yield of an 

 acre of coconuts, and a kilogram to equal 2'02 

 lb., I find that they remove : — lb. 

 Nitrogen ... ... 47'12 



Phos. Acid ... ... 14-48 



Potash ... ... 52-41 ^ 



These figures are from the ' Philippine 

 Journal of Science.' I have figures taken from 

 the same Journal some years ago into my note- 

 book which differ somewhat from this : — 



lb. 



Nitrogen ... ... 56 - 04 



Potash .... ... 57 '09 



Phos. Acid ... ... 15-78 



" Both in very fresh and over-ripe nuts, 

 there is a considerable deficiency in oil. 

 Whilst there are individual variations among 

 nuts from the same tree, analyses showed 

 very conclusively the increase in the percentage 

 of copra and oil as the fruit becomes riper. 

 The average percentages of copra and oil in 

 the green nut are only 1J!*5 and 7'5 respec- 

 tively, but they rise to 21 and 13'6 in the 

 fairly ripe and assume a maximum of 23'4 

 and 15 - 5 in those which had been allowed to 

 ripen on the tree." 



The following table is very interesting. I 

 feel fcure that those of your readers who are 

 interested in coconut cultivation will be thank- 

 ful to me for producing it. They are particulars 

 of 1,000 nuts from trees on the sea shore and 

 inland and allowed to season for a month : — 



Sea-shore Nuts Inland Nuts 

 per per 

 kilos, cent, kilos, cent. 

 Weight ofl,000nuts 2,363 100-0 2,286 lOO'O 

 Do husks 897 38'0 703 30 8 



Do nuts less 



husks 1,466 62-0 1,582 69'2 

 Do meat and 



shells 929 — 979 _ 



Do milk 557 22"7 603 26"4 



Do shells (dry) 282 11-9 291 12 7 

 Do meat 647 27 4 688 30-1 



According to this table, inland nuts are supe- 

 rior to seashore ones. 



Sea-Shobe Nuts. 

 Sun-dried. Grill dried. 



Kilos. Per cent. Kilos. Per cent. 

 Copra ... 302 12"8 330 14 '0 

 Oil .. 182 27 7 198 8-4 



Inland Nuts. 

 Sun-dried. Grill dried. 



Kilos. Per cent. Kilos. Per cent 

 Copra .. 322 14-1 333 14-6 

 Oil ... 191 8-4 189 83 



