Oils and Fats. 



104 



[February, 1912. 



give some details as to the methods of 

 propagation, planting, cultivation, and 

 manuring. 



As has been proved with other cultiv- 

 ated plants, such as wheat, due atten- 

 tion to seed selection is bound to give 

 increased yields. Seed-nuts should be 

 selected from trees that are known to be 

 good, regular bearers under ordinary 

 conditions of soil and climate,* and 

 though this may be generally recog- 

 nized, the method of picking the nuts, 

 even from the especially selected trees, 

 is often careless, and tends to destroy 

 this initial advantage. The nuts, of 

 course, should be completely matured, 

 and from this point of view many argue 

 that they should be allowed to fall 

 naturally from the trees. This involves 

 considerable damage to the young 

 embryo, and careful hand-picking, if by 

 reliable and experienced hands, is pre- 

 ferable. To accomplish this the stems 

 of the trees are notched, and this i-i 

 often done in such a way that little cup^ 

 are formed, where water lodges, and so 

 sets up decay. Notches are perhaps 

 necessary, but they should always be 

 carefully cut, not too deep and sloping 

 downwards, so as to minimize the 

 danger as much as possible. The ripe 

 nuts are then stored in a dry place for 

 about six weeks, since, if this is not 

 done, the food store in the nuts is liable 

 to decay, A corner of the plantation, 

 preferably under shade, with sandy or 

 well-drained soil, is selected as a nursery, 

 and the nuts are laid lengthwise in 

 shallow trenches and lightly coveted 

 with soil. A handful of kainit. applied 

 to each nut is of an advantage, as this 

 tends to prevent the ravages of such 

 pests as white ants. From the nursery 

 the young seedlings are .removed to the 

 plantation, and this is best done iust 

 before the commencement of the rainy 

 season. In removing the seedlings care 

 should be taken to leave the roots as 

 entire as possible, and that no injury be 

 done to the young shoots, especially at 

 their junction with the nut. This trans- 

 planting stage is open to many grave 

 dangers. For instance, the young roots 

 may be damaged, and since the function 

 of transmitting water upwards to the 

 leaves is thus impaired, it is advisable 

 to cut off about one-third of the leaves so 

 as to regulate the evaporation from the 

 leaf surface. But another danger is pre- 

 sented in that the period of transplant- 

 ing may jvist coincide with the exhaus- 

 tion of the natural food store in the 

 nut, and before the seedling has deve- 



* In our October issue, p. 199, we give full 

 particulars of the rfan Bias nuts and their 

 advantages for planting. 



loped sufficient power to extract the 

 necessary food material from the soil by 

 the fine root hairs. This stage occurs 

 about six months after the appearance 

 of the cotyledon or seed leaf, and a 

 period of about three weeks elapses 

 before the seedling has accommodated 

 itself to the new situation. Recog- 

 nizing this danger, there are many who 

 maintain that the nursery stage is un- 

 necessary, and that the better method 

 is to leave the nuts in piles of ten to 

 twelve, and transport the nuts when 

 sufficiently sprouted direct to the plant- 

 ation. Those who advocate this method 

 claim that not only is the expense of the 

 nursery work avoided, but weakly 

 plants can be readily seen and rejected. 

 When one considers that in Ceylon two 

 transplantings are carried out, the 

 second when the plants are a year or so 

 old, the nursery method, when practised 

 with reasonable care, is perhaps more 

 ad visable. In the plantation the palms 

 should never be less than 25 ft. apart 

 each way, and planted in ordinary 

 orchard form, by 30 by 30 ft., or 48 to the 

 acre, is generally found best. 



A few notes may now be made on the 

 conditions of the soil most favourable to 

 the growth of this palm. Without 

 entering too far into the realms of 

 botany, it is necessary to remember that 

 the roots are large and fleshy instead of 

 fibrous, and this points at once to the 

 necessity of having a fine permeable soil, 

 That fact alone explains why coconut 

 palms are naturally found along the 

 seashore, where the soil is of a sandy 

 nature. But the seashore has other 

 advantages. It is now generally re- 

 cognized that the plant-foods are taken 

 up in a dilute solution, and the water so 

 absorbed is then transpired thtough the 

 large leaf surface. Naturally, then, 

 there is a distinct connection between 

 the transpiration through the leaves and 

 the amount of plant food taken up, and 

 where the palms are situated in a good 

 airy position the vigour of the trees is 

 best assured. Fully exposed to the 

 prevailing wind, with a more or less 

 constant supply of water, the palms 

 yield profitable harvests of nuts, and on 

 these coastal tracts it is only necessary 

 to avoid storm centres, where violent 

 gales would tear the leaves and dislodge 

 the young nuts to ensure success and 

 obtain regular profits. 



From what has been said, one can 

 realize that soil of a clay formation, 

 where drainage has received little atten- 

 tion, are unsuitable, but though the 

 growth of the trees is practically 

 governed by the water supply, stagnant 

 water is detrimental, as the feeding area 



