424 



[May 1908. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



THE COCONUT. WITH REFERENCE 

 TO ITS PRODUCTS AND CULTIVA- 

 TION IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



(CONTD.) 



Cultivation. Selection op 

 Location. 



In the selection of a site for a coconut 

 grove it is best to select land near the 

 seashore and not extending inland more 

 than 2 or 3 miles. Within this narrow 

 zone there is commonly a deposit of rich, 

 permeable, well-drained alluvium offer- 

 ing soil conditions of far greater import- 

 ance to successful tree growth than the 

 mere exposure to marine influences. 

 The success that has followed coconut 

 growing in Cochin China, remote from 

 the seaboard, in Annam and up the 

 Ganges basin one hundred or more miles 

 from the coast, and in our own interior 

 Province of Laguna, definitely proves 

 that immediate contiguity to the sea is 

 not essential to success. 



That the coconut will grow and thrive 

 upon the immediate seashore, in common 

 with other plants, is simply an indication 

 of its adaptability to environment. That 

 it is at a positive disadvantage as a 

 shore plant may be determined con- 

 clusively by anyone who will examine 

 the root system of a seashore-grown tree 

 upturned by a wash or tidal wave, and 

 one uprooted from any cause, farther 

 inland. It will be seen that the root 

 system of the maritime plant is im- 

 mensely larger than the other, and that 

 a corresponding amount of energy has 

 been expended in the search through 

 much inert material to forage for the 

 necessary plant food which the more 

 favored inland species has found con- 

 centrated within a smaller zone. 



The planting must be made in a 

 thoroughly permeable soil- 



The thick, fleshy roots of the newly 

 upturned palm are loaded with water, 

 and tell us that an inexhaustible store of 

 this fluid is an indispensable element of 

 success. If further evidence of this were 

 required, the testimony of drooping 

 leaves and of crops shrunken from one- 

 half to two-thirds, throughout the coco- 

 nut districts and upon our own orchard 

 in Mindanao, as the resnlt of drought, 

 confirm it and bespeak the necessity of 

 copious water at all times. 



The living tree upon the sea sands 

 further emphasizes this necessity ; for, 

 while its roots are lapped by the tides, it 

 never flags or wilts, and from this we 



may gather the added value of a site 

 which can be irrigated. The careful 

 observer will note that along miles of 

 sea beach, among hundreds of trees 

 whose roots are either in actual contact 

 with the incoming waves, or subjected 

 to the subterranean influence of the sea, 

 there will never be so much as one tree 

 growing in any beach basin which 

 collects and holds tidal water for even a 

 brief time ; and that, notwithstanding 

 the large number of nuts that must have 

 found lodgment and favourable germin- 

 ating influence in such places, none 

 succeed in growing. From this we may 

 derive the assurance that the desired 

 water must be in motion and that land 

 near stagnant water, or marsh land, is 

 unsuitable to the plant. 



It may frequently be observed that 

 trees will be found growing fairly 

 thriftily upon mounds or hummocks, in 

 places invaded by flood or obher waters 

 which, by reason of backing or damming 

 up, have become stagnant. An examin- 

 ation of the roots of an overthrown tree 

 in such a locality will show that all of 

 those in the submerged zone have perish- 

 ed and rotted away, but that such is the 

 vitality and recuperative energy of the 

 tree that it has thrown out a new feed- 

 ing system in the dryer soil of the mound 

 immediately surrounding the stem, which 

 has been sufficient to successfully carry 

 on the functions of nutrition, but alto- 

 gether ineffective to anchor the tree 

 securely, or to prevent its prostration 

 before the first heavy gale. 



While this phase of the question will 

 receive more attention when we come to 

 consider the chemistry of the suitable 

 manures, it may be said that, although 

 analysis of the coconut ash derived 

 from beach-grown nuts shows a larger 

 percentage of those salts that abound in 

 sea water than those grown inland, yet 

 the equal vigor, vitality, and fruitful- 

 ness of the latter simply confirm the 

 plant's exceptional adaptability to en- 

 vironment and ability to take up and 

 decompose, without detriment, the salts 

 of sea or brackish waters. As a victim 

 to the maritime idea, the writer in 1886 

 planted, far inland, several hundred 

 nuts in beds especially devised to re- 

 produce littoral conditions; shore grave], 

 sea sand, broken shells, and salt derived 

 from se i water being used in preparing 

 the seed beds. The starting growth was 

 unexcelled. Then came a long period of 

 yellowing decline and almost suspended 

 animation, ultimately followed by a 

 complete restoration to health and vigor. 

 The early excellent growth was due to 



