Edible Products, 



542 



[June 1908. 



Harvest. 



Harvest of the crop requires but a 

 brief discussion. The nuts should be 

 plucked when ripe. The phenomenon of 

 maturity cannot be readily described in 

 print. It frequently is as evident in 

 nuts of a bright green color as in those 

 of a golden-yellow color, and the re- 

 cognition is one of those things that can 

 only be learned by experience. 



The practice, so general in the Sey- 

 chelles, of allowing the nut to hang'jtill it 

 falls to the ground is certainly undesir- 

 able in these islands. On the contrary, 

 the overripe nuts will seldom fall until 

 dislodged by a storm, and it is no un- 

 common thing to see nuts that have 

 sprouted and started to grow upon trees 

 in plantations where the harvest is left 

 to the action of natural causes. Such 

 nuts, of course, are entirely worthless 

 for the manufacture of oil or copra, and 

 even the husk has depreciated in value, 

 the finest coirs, in fact, being derived 

 only from the fruit that have not attain- 

 ed full ripeness. In any case, the nuts 

 should be picked and the crop worked up 

 before any considerable enlargement or 

 swelling of the embryo occurs. From 

 this time onward physiological changes 

 arise which injuriously affect the quan- 

 tity and quality of what is called the 

 meat. 



The heaping up of the nuts for some 

 time after harvest favors some milk 

 absorption, which seems to facilitate 

 the subsequent easy extraction of the 

 endosperm. 



Enemies. 



Outside of certain insects of the order 

 Coleoptera, coconuts in the Philippines 

 are reasonably free from enemies ; in some 

 districts, close to forest-clad areas, the 

 raids of monkeys do some damage. A 

 tree-nesting rat, which nibbles the 

 young nuts, is also a source of consider- 

 able loss. The rat is best overcome by 

 frequent disturbance of his quarters. 

 This involves the removal of the dead 

 leaves and thatch that form constantly 

 about the base of the crown. But the 

 wisdom of this recommendation will 

 depend entirely upou circumstances. As 

 the planter may find that rats or the 

 rhinoceros beetle are the lesser evil, so 

 should he be governed. 



There are localities in the Archipelago 

 where the plague of rats is unknown and 

 where the beetles abound. In that case 

 it would be unwise to disturb the leaves 

 which are very tardily deciduous and do 

 not naturally fall till the wood beneath 

 is hard, mature, and practically imper- 

 vious to the attacks of insects. 



Where rats are numerous and insects 

 few, which is the case in some localities, 

 the dead and dying leaves, among which 

 the rat nests, may be advantageously 

 cleared a way whenever the tree is climbed 

 to harvest the fruit. 



Among serious insect enemies we 

 have to contend largely with the very 

 obnoxious black beetle, Oryctes rhino- 

 cerus, and, fortunately, to a lesser ex- 

 tent, with Rhynchoporus ferrugineous 

 (probably the same as R. ochreatus of 

 Eydoux), while R. pascha, Boehm., and 

 Chalcosma atlas, Linn., are also said to 

 appear occasionally. 



However different their mode of 

 attack, the general result is the same, 

 and their presence may surely be detect- 

 ed by the appearance of deformed or 

 badly misshapen or lacerated leaves. 



The attacks of all species are confined 

 to the growing point and as far down- 

 ward as the wood is tender and suscept- 

 ible to the action of their powerful 

 mandibles. 



The black beetle makes its attacks when 

 fully mature, eating its way into the soft 

 tissues and generally selecting the axil 

 of a young leaf as the point of least re- 

 sistance. Others simply deposit their 

 eggs, which hatch out, and the resulting 

 grub is provided with jaws powerful 

 enough to do the same mischief. Two 

 or three of these grubs, if undisturbed, 

 are sufficient in time to completely riddle 

 the growing tip, which then falls over 

 and the tree necessarily dies. 



Remedies. 



Remedies may be described as preven- 

 tive and agressive, and, by an active 

 campaign of precaution, many subse- 

 quent remedial applications can be 

 avoided. 



Most of the beetles attacking the palm 

 are known to select heaps of decompos- 

 ing rubbish and manure as their favour- 

 ite (if not necessary) breeding places, 

 and it is obviously of importance to 

 break up and destroy such ; nor can any 

 better or more advantageous way of 

 effecting this be suggested than by 

 promptly spreading and ploughing under 

 all such accumulations as fast as they 

 are made ; or, if this be impracticable, 

 by forking or turning over or otherwise 

 disturbing the heaps, until convenient 

 to dispose of them as first suggested. 



A truly preventive and simple remedy, 

 and one that I can commend as a result 

 of close observation, is the application of 

 a haudful or two of sharp, coarse, clean 

 sand in the axilla? of the young leaves. 

 The native practice is to mix this with 



