Edible Products, 



404 



[November, 1911. 



do not fruit until seven years old. At 

 considerable elevations above the sea 

 fruiting may be delayed for ten or more 

 years, and if one goes high enough the 

 trees cease to fruit at all. It is always 

 difficult to get really reliable inform- 

 ation as to the age of young trees. 

 Especial interest, therefore, attaches to 

 the following statement furnished by 

 the Superintendent of the Iwahig Penal 

 Colony, concerning coconuts at various 

 stations of the Iwahig Penal Colony :— 



In accoi dance with instructions re- 

 ceived in Memorandum Order Number 

 2070, the following statement is respect- 

 fully submitted : 



On October 5, 1910, a thorough inspec- 

 tion was made of the coconut grove at 

 Binuan, situated on a stretch of black 

 sand adjoining the Bay, and only a 

 couple of feet above its level. The seven 

 hundred trees comprising the plant- 

 ation were set out during the rainy 

 seasons of the years 1907, 1908, and 1909. 

 Rapidity of growth, vigorous health, 

 and freedom from insect attacks is 

 noticeable in this plantation, 



The trees planted in 1907 are about 

 twenty-four feet high, six and three- 

 quarters feet in circumference, and have 

 an average of twenty leaves each, 

 springing from the ground up. one of 

 those trees is now bearing fruit. 



Those planted in 1908 are on an average 

 fifteen feet in height, three and one- 

 half feet in circumference, and bear 

 about ten leaves each. 



The one-year-old plants are six feet 

 high and bear about seven leaves each, 

 and are about eighteen inches in circum- 

 ference at the ground. 



A few of the trees are planted in the 

 hummocky crab ground formerly the 

 home of the mangrove. These, although 

 making fair grototh, are not as vigorous 

 as those along the sunny beach, 



On the same date the plantation situ- 

 ated on the Tagculasi promontory was 

 inspected. The five hundred and twenty- 

 two trees here vary in age from two to 

 six years. They are entirely free from 

 insect attacks, and the same vigorous 

 healthy growth was observed here as in 

 Binuan. 



The soil is mostly of a coral formation, 

 but in some places is gravelly, and in 

 other situations of a loamy character. 



Notwithstanding this, there is not 

 much difference in the growth of the 

 trees, if we except a few growing on the 

 coral soil near the shore, which seem to 

 have made more headway than the 

 others. 



The other trees which were planted 

 thirty feet apart, bear from 60 to 120 

 nuts, but those planted only eighteen 

 feet apart bear fewer nuts and are 

 characterized by long stems. 



On October 6th, the plantations of 

 Kabulbug and Santa Tereza were in- 

 spected, The older trees were planted 

 in 1907. 



They are entirely free from insects, 

 and although making excellent growth, 

 they are not flourishing as well as those 

 at Binuan, probably on account of being 

 more inland. 



The circumference of the stems of the 

 3|-year-old trees is about four and one- 

 half feet ; height about 15 feet, and they 

 bear about 15 leaves each. 



Number of Nuts per Tree per Year. 



According to a Bureau of Agriculture 

 bulletin, an acre of properly planted 

 coconuts should produce about 2,000 nuts 

 per year, or 50 nuts per tree. The same 

 authority states that trees which by 

 actual count average 50 nuts per tree 

 per year abound ; that at Sarabaya trees 

 average 60 nuts per tree per year over 

 hundreds of acres, and that this condi- 

 tion will be found to prevail in Panga- 

 sinan, La Laguna, Cebu, Panay, Mind- 

 anao, and wherever trees are grown on a 

 generous scale. It is further stated that 

 there are recorded perfectly authentic 

 reports of as many as 128 nuts being 

 taken from a single tree in a year. 



One tree at Zamboanga, the owner 

 claims, never produced less than 200 nuts 

 annually, during a period of 23 years. 

 This man claimed that his trees aver- 

 aged him 100 nuts per year, sometimes 

 falling to 60 and again running as high 

 as 130. 



Lieutenant Manuel Portisch, Philip- 

 pine Constabulary, reports that at 

 Ginoog, in Misamis, coconuts do parti- 

 cularly well, and that a planter there 

 claims 120 nuts per tree per year from 

 old, well-established trees. 



Sr. Vicente Diaz states that mature, 

 bearing coconut trees will produce from 

 60 to 120 nuts per year, with an average 

 of 80. 



Mr. P. J. Moore, who is very familiar 

 with conditions in the Moro Province, 

 states that the actual average annual 

 number of nuts per tree in the District 

 of Zamboanga is approximately 45, This 

 includes large numbers of trees which 

 produce no nuts at all on account of 

 being planted too close together. It 

 would, therefore, seem that an estimate 

 of 60 nuts per tree per year for a grove 

 in which the trees were set at proper 



