Edible Products. 



ISO 



fFEB. 1908. 



once in two days, The cultivators there 

 do not in the least stint the manuring 

 of the trees, which in their turn give 

 sufficient fruit. The trees in Bombay 

 and other places begin to yield nuts 

 after six years, whereas ten years seem 

 to be the maximum period required for 

 coconut trees in Travancore to bear. 

 Of course, in certain parts where the 

 soil is exceptionally favourable the trees 

 begin to bear in four years from date of 

 planting. In Travancore the trees bear 

 in plenty during the months of January, 

 February, March, April, May and June. 

 The following are the different varieties 

 of the coconut palm that thrive well in 

 Travancore soils :— Ohontengu, Gualipat- 

 ram, Nokkuvari, Kappaltengu, and Yap- 

 panam. The Travancore cultivators, as 

 already said, do not pay any attention 

 to manui'ing the trees. It may be 

 mentioned that fish manure is the best 

 that can be used. 



COCONUT PALM PESTS. 



We may now discuss the coconut pests 

 which have been the main cause of the 

 decline of this industry in Travancore- 

 It is a matter for surprise that people 

 of this country, who have been cultivat- 

 ing this tree for many centuries, have 

 not yet devised some satisfactory re- 

 medies for dealing with its enemies. 

 It is true that some poor makeshifts are 

 resorted to by way of protecting the trees 

 from the pests ; they do not, however, 

 seem to be of much use in checking the 

 trouble. Without enumerating in detail 

 all the enemies against which the coco- 

 nut tree in Travancore has to contend, 

 we may mention the white ants, beetles 

 and worms ; of these the white ants can 

 only harm the plant in its infancy. It 

 is when the trees get old that the other 

 two begin to commit havoc. There are 

 two varieties of beetles— the red beetle 

 (Rhynchophorus saclm) and the horned 

 beetle {Oryctes rhinoceros) that does the 

 greatest mischief; it attacks the terminal 

 bud of the stem, and as a result the bud 

 dies and the crown of the leaves falls off, 

 leaving the coconut tree a mere bare 

 stem. The red beetle only attacks the 

 nuts. Prevention would seem to be the 

 only cure for these pests- 



THE ROBBER CRAB. 



There is another enemy called the 

 coconut crab (Birgus latro). This is also 

 called the robber crab of the Keeling 

 Islands, and the story of their climbing 

 these palms at nights and detaching the 

 nuts seem to be almost fabulous, 

 According to one account, it is said that, 

 in order to extract the nourishment, it 

 tears off the husk fibre by fibre, from 

 that end in which the three eyes are 

 situated, and then hammers upon one 



of them with its heavy claws until an 

 opening is effected. It inhabits deep 

 burrows, where it accumulates surpris- 

 ing quantities of picked fibre of coconut 

 husks on which it rests as on a bed. 

 Then there is another enemy — the rodent 

 —and it is the most wanton, the mosc 

 ingenious, and the most destructive of 

 them all. Man with all his ingenuity 

 has not been able up to the present day 

 to apply the least possible check to the 

 depredations of the rat, which seems to 

 be the craftiest and most destructive 

 of the animal enemies to the plantations. 

 It is said that the rats build their nests 

 in the hollow of the base of the coconut 

 frond and feed on the tender leaf, the 

 young kernel and the mature nut. They 

 seem to commit these depredations out 

 of pure mischief. It is not exactly to 

 satisfy the demands of hunger that they 

 do it, for, in that case, why should they 

 wantonly nibble at and throw down 

 unripe nuts ? In the Laccadive Islands, 

 where many coconut plantations have 

 been practically ruined on account of 

 these rodents, the people get up rat-hunts 

 and slaughter thousands ; but there has 

 evidently not been any diminution in 

 their numbers, the rats being the most 

 prolific of living creatures. Various 

 remedies have from time to time been 

 tried, but with very little purpose ; traps, 

 poisoned baits, cats, etc., do not seem to 

 be of much use. 



AN INFECTIOUS PALM DISEASE. 



There is also another disease caused by 

 a kind of fungus of the genus pyfhium (a 

 near ally of the phytoplithora, found in 

 Koleroga), which has been doing much 

 havoc all over the coconut plantations 

 in the Presidency and elsewhere. It is 

 now more than a dozen years since this 

 infectious disease was first noticed in 

 Karunagappally Taluk in Travancore, 

 whence the neighbouring taluks have 

 also caught the disease. Mr. Butler, 

 Imperial Mycologist, Agricultural Re- 

 search Institute, Pusa, makes the follow- 

 ing remarks regarding the disease in his 

 article on " Disease of Palms " in the In- 

 dian A griculturalJournal : "'Theearliest 

 sign is an alteration in colour in one of 

 the leaves, usually one of those recently 

 expanded towards the centre of the bud. 

 This turns white, and soon afterwards 

 commences to wither. Other leaves are 

 attacked in turn, the heart of the bud 

 is reached, and the whole top withers 

 and falls off, the last stage often being 

 reached only after considerable time. 

 In coconut palm the same general course 

 is followed ; but here, if the nuts have 

 been formed before the attack becomes 

 severe, they are often dropped prema- 

 turely. No new nuts are formed once 

 the characteristic symptoms show. . . » , 



