Oils and Fats. 



106 



[February, 1912. 



Bearing these facts in mind we can 

 recommend the following mixtures :— 



No. 1. 

 100 lb. 

 150 „ 



50 „ 

 100 „ 



50 „ 



Sulphate of ammonia 

 Bone meal 

 Superphosphate 

 Kainit 



Muriate of potash 



450 lb. per acre. 



120 lb. 



200 „ 



60 „ 

 100 ,. 



70 „ 



560 lb. per aere- 



The first mixture is suitable for appli- 

 cation during the first three or four 

 years, but as soon as signs of the form- 

 ation of nuts are observed, then the 

 second mixture should be applied, in 

 order to stimulate the trees as much as 

 possible. Where green manures have 

 been ploughed into the soil, then the 

 quantity of sulphate of ammonia can be 

 considerably reduced. These mixtures 

 have been based on the information 

 gained from experiments on orchards 

 where the effects of the various plant- 

 foods have been more or less established. 

 For instance, it has been found that the 

 effects of the nitrogen is to increase the 

 size of the fruit, but in order to obtain 

 quality as well as quantity, phosphate 

 and potash must also be added. These 

 play a prominent part in the formatiou 

 of carbohydrates and albuminoids, and 

 those who visited the stand of the 

 Potash Syndicate at the recent Inter- 

 national Rubber Exhibition, London, 

 will remember the cross sections of the 

 coconuts, where a striking difference in 

 the amount of meat was shown between 

 those nuts from the manured and un- 

 manured plots. Photographs showing 

 relative thickness of the kernels of these 

 nuts have now been taken, 



We have been assuming that we are 

 dealing with newly-formed plantations, 

 but the case is quite different when we 

 come to deal with old plantations which 

 may have been neglected for a consider- 

 able number of years. The vitality of 

 the trees is naturally low, and we must 

 make up this by the application of plant- 

 foods before any appreciable difference 

 can be noted in the yields. We often 

 find in these neglected plantations, how- 



ever, that the tree9 are too close to- 

 gether, and not only are the yields 

 unprofitable, but these trees are often 

 in a very unhealthy condition, with 

 bud rob, and are thus a source of infec- 

 tion to healthier palms in the neighbour- 

 hood. The first step should be to thin 

 out the plantation till the distance apart 

 each way is not less than 25 ft. It is 

 hard to convince a native as to the 

 wisdom of this, but it will be found to 

 be work that pays. After this thinning, 

 cultivation and manuring can be more 

 uniformly practised. A heavy manuring 

 should be given the first year or so in 

 order to restore the vigour of the trees 

 and to promote the formation of nuts. 

 In such cases the first year's manuring 

 may do very little beyond improving 

 the appearance of the trees, but after 

 the second year an increase in the crop 

 is bound to take place. A manure com- 

 posed largely of organic material is 

 preferable, and the following mixture 

 should give good results :— 



Castor Cake ... 

 Tankage 



Sulphate of Ammonia.. 



Kainit 



Muriate 



250 lb. 

 200 „ 

 50 „ 

 120 „ 



Sufficient for an acre... 700 „ 



As soon as the trees show a healthy 

 appearance, then Mixture No. 1 in the 

 first table can be applied with advantage. 



" Seeing is believing " is an old adage, 

 and most of us are sceptical in that we 

 require to be shown actual proof of a 

 thing before we will believe it. It is 

 only by actual experimental work that 

 we can hope to convince the planters 

 that the adoption of more up-to-date 

 methods will give increased and profit- 

 able yields, and in view of the growing 

 demand for cdprah and vegetable oils, 

 which is creating something of a boom 

 in coconut culture, owners and mana- 

 gers of plantations should test for 

 themselves the value of adopting the 

 more modern methods of cultivation and 

 manuring suggested here. 



