April, 1909.] 



323 



Oils and Fats. 



fineness, possesses nutrive properties of 

 a high order, and furnish food suitable 

 to the nourishment of many domesticat- 

 ed animals such as horses, cattle, and 

 sheep. It is undoubtedly true that the 

 sunflower seed is a valuable food when 

 mixed in proper proportions with other 

 food products. It improves the digestion 

 of the animal and therefore is beneficial 

 to its health. In fact, the seeds are used 

 to a large extent for the purpose of 

 keeping animals in excellent physical 

 condition. The supposed efficacy of sun- 

 flower seeds for the cure of certain 

 diseases, such as rheumatism, is probably 

 largely mythical. There is a very pre- 

 valent notion that the growth of large 

 quantities of sunflowers in malarial 

 regions prevents the development of 

 diseases of malarial origin, although 

 this, too, is probably an illusion. From 

 the stalks of the plant a valuable potash 

 is made ; and the leaves go to manure 

 the soil. The leaves have also been 

 manufactured into cigars, possessing, it 

 is stated, pectoral properties. The green 

 leaves when dried and burnt to powder 

 make excellent fodder for milch cows, 

 mixed with bran. The sunflower has 

 been long largely grown in parts of 

 Russia and Germany for its 



OIL WHICH IS OP MUCH VALUE 



both for edible and lighting purposes. 

 It also makes most beautiful soap. The 

 seed, shelled, makes when ground very 

 fine flour for bread, particularly tea 

 cakes. The stalk too is useful, for by 

 treating it exactly like flax, it will 

 produce a fibre as fine as silk, and in 

 large quantities, and there is no doubt 

 that many of their silk goods have a 

 large portion of sunflower fibre in them. 

 The plant is easy of cultivation and 

 will grow in all parts of the island. A 

 light rich soil, as unshadowed by trees 

 as possible, is about the best. The seeds 

 should be planted six inches apart, and 

 about one inch deep, and when one foot 

 high may be earthed up. The plant 

 will then require no further attention, 



EVERY SINGLE PLANT WILL PRODUCE 



1,000 or more seeds. The main head 

 generally produces 800 to 1,000 seeds, and 

 there are usually four collaterals pro- 

 duciug 50 to 60 seeds each. The quantity 

 of seed is much increased by dwarfing 

 the plants which should be kept free 

 from weeds. It is important that they 

 should have sufficient interval between 

 them for exposure to the sun, as under 

 such circumstances they become larger 

 and more fully stored with seed. The 

 produce varies considerably, according 

 to the state of the soil, the climate and 

 the cultivation that is employed- I 

 have no figures to give as regards pro- 



duction in Ceylon, but statistics of 

 cultivation in Russia give the average 

 quantity of seed at 50 bushels per acre, 

 and the yield of oil at a gallon per 

 bushel.— Ceylon Independent. 



ATTALEA COHUNE (MARTINS). 

 By Osborne Browne. 



This splendid specimen of the palm 

 order is indigenous to the low lands of 

 Honduras where it constitutes the 

 largest part of the forest. It will grow 

 in poor soil but nowhere attains luxu- 

 riance except in the volcanic loams of 

 the best class of forest land. 



Prom its abundance this kind ol forest 

 is locally called " Cohune ridge " in con- 

 tradistinction to " Pine ridge " which is 

 a barren park-like country covered by 

 wiry grass and having scattered Pines, 

 Oaks, and Craboos. 



The term " ridge " is not warranted as 

 it simply means a difference in forest and 

 soil, and nothing more. 



Often the transition from the pine- 

 ridge to the Cohune-ridge is very abrupt, 

 and after walking on a soil so barren 

 that a cow would require 100 acres for a 

 living, one may within a few moments 

 walk on a soil which may grow 19 or 20 

 hand bunches of Bananas, each bunch so 

 heavy that a strong man has difficulty 

 not in carrying it away but in cutting it 

 down, so that it may not fall and be 

 bruised. The palm grows to a height of 

 70 or 80 feet, but these aged specimens 

 have a small and barren crown. 



The trunk is smooth and slightly 

 marked by the scars of fallen leaves. 

 The leaves resemble those of the coconut 

 palm, but are much larger and have a 

 more upright habit from crowding in 

 the bush, and they also do not turn over 

 on the flat like the leaves of the coconut 

 palm, but are more inclined to turn over 

 on the edge, so to speak. The feature, 

 however, which attracts most attention 

 is the huge bunches of fruit each weigh- 

 ing 80 to 100 lbs. and containing about 500 

 nuts, each the size of a hen's egg. The 

 fruit stalk is quite straight, about 3—4 

 feet long, oval in section, measuring 

 5 to 6 inches diameter at the butt, taper- 

 ing to the end, and consisting of a mass 

 of weak fibre. Under each tree is a 

 slight mound of scattered nuts, many of 

 which have a neat round hole gnawed 

 through the excessively hard and thick 

 shell by rodents in search of the oily 

 kernel. The kernel may be double or 

 triple and about the size of a Para rubber 

 seed or a jak seed, and contains as much 

 oil »s copra and of a finer quality. Ou 



