Edible Products. 



280 



[May 190' 



Provided all trees are beyond the reach of cattle, I would suggest another 

 very commendable mode of manuring. Buffaloes or cattle might be tied during 

 the night, one to each tree. The urine and other excrements from these animals 

 contain splendid tree fertilizing properties, and the constant trampling round the 

 tree loosens the soil and makes it porous, thus helping the roots to assimilate the 

 manure quicker. 



One animal should be tied to a tree for ten days in succession, and then 

 another tree should be treated similarly. To carry out this system of manuring 

 successfully, 100 head of cattle will be required foi a plantation of 100 acres, 

 and it will take two years to give a complete manuring to the whole acreage. If 

 sufficient fodder and grass can be procured easily for a herd of 100 head of cattle, 

 I consider it very advantageous to resort to this mode of manuring. 



Green manures, such as "Keppitiya" and Kaduru, if available in large 

 quantities, are also good for application to the Coconut tree. A bundle of 40 lbs. 

 of either of these mixed with burnt coconut husk should be buried round the tree 

 five to six feet from the trunk and " deep. 



1. Number op Trees and their Yield Per Acre. 



There are some who recommend planting 3U ft. by 30 ft. as a good 

 distance for coconuts. On exceptionally rich soils this distance is, I believe, 

 a very suitable one ; but on hilly lands planting 24 feet apart is better. 



An acre planted 21 ft. x 21 ft. will contain 75 trees, and if properly looked 

 after, and cultivated in the mauner described above, will safely yield on an average 

 30 nuts per tree annually harvested in six crops. The best crops of the year are 

 secured during the mouths of May and July. There are of course rare instances 

 where Coconut trees are found to yield from 100 to 150 nuts each, Such abnormal 

 yields are however confined to exceptional soils and conditions. 



A good many nuts are lost on estates during the dry weather of the 

 months of December, January, February, and March, on account of the young nuts 

 falling off, owing to the tender stems of the undeveloped bunches breaking. This 

 loss can be prevented by applying "supports" to them before the dry weather 

 sets in during the month of December, continuing the operation during January, 

 February, and March, when the year's crop has fairly developed into the nut stage. 



5. Results from Manuring Experiments. 

 1 shall now lay down some results obtained from experiments, made on a 

 very small scale, in an altogether hilly plot, on Citrus Group Estate, Galle, con- 

 taining about 1,200 trees. Cattle manure in small quantities was applied to a 

 number of trees which showed indifferent growth in 1901, and again portions were 

 manured with Freudenberg & Co.'s artificial manure No. 5 in 1903. A table is 

 appended comparing the crops harvested during a period of five successive years. 

 Had not the severe drought experienced during the first quarter of 1905 caused 

 the falling off of a considerable number of young nuts, a crop of 40,000 nuts could 

 have been easily plucked during that year. 







1902. 



1903. 



1904. 



1905. 



1906. 



1. 



February Crop 



1,112 



3,626 



2,008 



2,469 



2,320 



2. 



April j, 



1,181 



5,517 



3,490 



4,112 



4,668 



3. 



June 5 , 



2,257 



6,784 



5,700 



8,356 



6,985 



4. 



August , 4 



4,140 



6,999 



6,473 



8,759 



9,6 



5. 



October 



2,340 



3,245 



4,247 



7,036 



5,253 



0. 



December 



1,330 



2,418 



2,175 



2,654 



2,970 







... 12,360 



28,589 



24,093 



33,386 



31,814 



