444 



[December, 1912. 



MANURING COCONUTS. 



EXPERIMENTS IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. 



Man u rial experiments are being made on two coconut estates in 

 Trinidad and on one estate in Tobago, says the West Indian Bulletin. 

 These experiments are under the control of the Board of Agriculture. 



The manures are supplied free of cost to the proprietors but the cost 

 of application as well as the cost of general cultivation are borne by the 

 estate owners. 



There are eight plots io each estate, two of which were only forked 

 and no manure applied. These are kept as control plots. 



The following experiments are being made : — 



Manures applied per tree. 



j'4 lb. lime 

 \i j, kainit 



{!: 



■C: 

 ( 



[150 „ 



I !:: 



1 150 '„ 



basic slag 



sulphate of potash ... 

 basic salt 



nitrate of soda 

 calcium cyanamide 



sulphate of potash ... 

 bone meal 



sulphate of ammonia 

 pen manure 



superphosphate of lime 

 sulphate of potash ... 

 pen manure 



Cost of manures per tree 

 (landed in Port-of-Spain). 



$ c. 



4-86 



7 28 



10-56 



14-22 



13-75 



The manures were spread broadcast, about 3 or 4 feet from the trunk 

 of the trees and 2 feet from the edge of the drains, and the surface loos- 

 ened to a depth of about 6 inches with the aid of a fork. 



Records of pickings are being kept from July 1, 1911. Printed forms 

 were supplied to the owners for forwarding the results of each picking. 



The nature of the soil and approximate age of the trees under experi- 

 ment are shown below :— 



Nature of 

 soil, 



Approximate Rainfall Jan. Date when 

 elevation, to Dec. 1910, manure applied, 

 inches. 1911. 



Undulating 



clay loam ... 

 Plat sandy 

 Plat sand loam. 



feet. 



100 



25 

 30 



80-561 

 85-47 



July 

 July 



May 



Age of trees 

 years. 



about 25 

 about 35 

 20 to 25 



* rainfall taken, t Average rainfall for 11 years is 50 inches, 



