July, 1911.] 



19 



Edible Products, 



the soil the elements of fertility re- 

 moved by crops. The soil is drawn upon, 

 not only to mature crops, but also for 

 the growth of the tree and for the 

 production of fronds- Unless the soil is 

 exceptionally poor, the elements of 

 fertility in the soil will be found suffi- 

 cient for the growth of the tree and for 

 the production of fronds. In practice I 

 have found that a manure based on an 

 analysis of the soil did not yield any- 

 thing like the same results as a manure 

 based entirely on the elements of fertil- 

 ity removed by crops. The earliest 

 analyses of the coconut tree and its 

 products were made by a Frenchman, 

 Lepine. They were most elaborate, but 

 have not been accepted as accurate. I 

 see that they are omitted from the latest 

 edition of "All about Coconut Planting." 

 To my knowledge the next analysis was 

 by Cochrane, at the time the City 

 Analyst of the Colombo Municipality. 

 He interested himself much in agricul- 

 tural subjects and published a very use- 

 ful book, " Ceylou Manual of Chemical 

 Analyses." His analysis of 3,000 coco- 

 nuts, representing the crop of one acre, 

 was as under :— 



lb. 



Nitrogen ... ... 5025 



Phosphoric acid .. ... 21 "64 



Potash ... ... 101-25 



Salt ... ... 6375 



The next, I believe, was by Bachofen, 

 at the time in the employ of Mr, Baur :— 



lb. 



Nitrogen ... ... 25'97 



Phosphoric acid... ... 7*35 



Potash ... ... 5625 



Salt ... ... 64-26 



The next I have is from the Philippine 

 Agricultural Journal : — 



lb. 



Nitrogen ... ... 56-04 



Potash ... ... 57-09 



Phosphoric acid... ... 15-78 



It will be noted that, except as regards 

 salt, Bachofen's analysis gives about a 

 half of the other constituents as com- 

 pared with Cochrane's and one-third of 

 phosphoric acid. In the Philippine 

 Agricultural Journal analysis the 

 amount of nitrogen is slightly in excess 

 of that of Cochrane's. The potash is 

 practically the same as in Bachofen's. 

 The phosphoric acid is a mean between 

 Cochrane's and Bachofen's. The manure 

 I have used, and with encouraging 

 results, is based on Cochrane's analysis. 

 I attribute the good results to the 

 quantity of potash in the mixture, 

 which is deficient in the soil to which 

 I have applied it. 



Cattle manure is a very valuable 

 manure for coconut cultivation, whether 

 on hard or on sandy soils. In its decay 

 it adds humus to the soil, and the quan- 

 tity of humus — a soil is the measure of 

 its fertility. Hard soils are rendered 

 friable with the addition of cattle 

 manure, and it gives body and retentive- 

 ness of moisture to a light sandy soil. 

 Where there is sufficient pasturage to 

 maintain a herd of cattle, their drop- 

 pings when tied to coconut trees yield 

 very encouraging results, as the valu- 

 able liquid droppings are absorbed by 

 the soil if it be porous. Evaporation 

 can be arrested by the use of fibre dust 

 or any vegetable matter spread round 

 the trees to which cattle are being 

 tethered. Wherever cattle manure or 

 cattle droppings are applied, half the 

 quantity of artificial manure usually 

 applied should be used. Where cattle 

 manure is not available, Crotalaria will 

 be found to be a very useful substitute 

 for the formation of humus. In common 

 with other leguminous plants, it has the 

 further valuable property of being able 

 to appropriate nitrogen from the atmo- 

 sphere to enrich the soil. All green 

 matter, whether leguminous or not, 

 should be buripd so as to enrich the soil. 



Analysis of the soil will be useful to 

 find out whether the soil is acid. This 

 can to a very large extent be corrected 

 if the treatment before suggested of 

 tilling and limine: the soil be carried out, 

 and also to fiud out whether the soil is 

 deficient in any constituents. For, 

 according to the " Law of the Mini- 

 mum," if the soil be very rich in all the 

 necessary constituents of fertility and 

 be deficieut in one, even the most un- 

 important, the crop will be adversely 

 affected. 



If the fronds be cut up and heaped 

 and burnt, and the husks be removed 

 to the different fields and be burnt or 

 buried, the elements of fertility removed 

 from the soil will be represented only by 

 the nuts. The transport of husks to be 

 burnt will be an expensive item of 

 expenditure. If means could be devised 

 to burn them where the nuts are heaped, 

 without damaging the surrounding 

 trees.the co3t of transport will be dimin- 

 ished. If husks be buried, the result- 

 ing benefit to the trees will commence 

 with their decay. On a heavy soil, 

 retentive of moisture, the decay will ba 

 comparatively rapid, while in a saudy 

 soil the decay will be very slow. If the 

 husks are buried in small pits all over 

 the estate, they will, in decaying, yield 

 humus, which is essential to a fertile 

 condition. Another source of humus is 

 weeds, which it will be wise to always. 



