14 



Description of the 



[No. 33, 



10 to 20 years; it will then continue in full bearing for 70 or 80 years. 

 Some were pointed out to me which were confidently asserted to be 

 upwards of a century old. The full grown trees are never watered. 



The tree is not so large and strong as that of the coast, and the nut 

 about two-thirds of the size only, and rounder in shape. The husk 

 is smaller and less woody, and the fibre finer and more delicate, but 

 stronger than that of the coast nut. The nut also is said to be more 

 compact and oily and to keep better than the coast nut, although for 

 the sake of the coir, the nut is cut before being quite ripe. It seems 

 doubtful whether more manuring and watering would make the tree 

 more powerful and the fruit larger, but a very little more attention 

 would make the tree much more productive. The palmyra and date 

 palms are unknown on these islands. 



The productiveness of trees depends on the soil and situation. Trees 

 on the dryer parts of the islands, with a westerly or south-westerly 

 exposure are of little value, while in the beds of old tanks and where 

 the coral has been removed, or with an eastern exposure, trees are 

 highly productive. In the different islands, the average produce va- 

 ries, that of Kadamat and Kiltan stands a fifth or sixth higher than 

 that of Ameendevy or Chetlat. In describing the islands separately 

 the probable average fixed by the islanders themselves whom I ques- 

 tioned on this subject, will be mentioned. 



The Natives state that the cocoanut palm should 



Produce. 



throw out one leaf and a flowering branch once a 

 month, but this is an exception of rare occurrence, and the best tree 

 will only produce 9 or 10 flowering branches a year, bearing on an 

 average 15 to 20 nuts, while the annual produce of other trees will 

 not exceed 50 or 55 nuts, a general average of 60 or 70 nuts per 

 tree per annum would probably be a pretty fair one for the islands 

 taken together. 



The principal food being the cocoanut by far the 

 Its value. . , 1 . -, , 



greater portion oi the produce is consumed at home, 



but for the small quantity they are enabled to export prices varying 



from 6 to 8 rupees per thousand are obtained, if, after making the 



necessary deduction for the expense of transport to the coast, &c., we 



take 5 rupees per thousand as the value of nuts on the island, it 



will be a fair average, and give the value of the cocoanut produce of 



a tree from f annas to 5| and that of 100 trees about 30 rupees. 



As the husk gets hard and woody if the fruit is al- 

 Coir and mc- , , , ... • n 



tliod= of soaking, lowed to become quite ripe, the proper time lor cut- 



