October Ij i!?go.J 
THP TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
269 
COCONUT CULTIVATION. 
Castob V. Coconut Cake. 
A Native gentleman largely interested in coconuts, 
and who I believe now intends to cultivate his broad 
acres, recently asked me what I thought was prefer- 
able for coconuts — castor or coconut cake. An ac- 
knowledged authority on coconut cultivation told him 
the latter. My opinion, pitted against such an 
authority, will not go for much : but the analyses of 
Hughes and other chemists shew that the former is 
far and away the be.'.t cake we have for manurial 
purposes. Hughes’ praise of good white caster cake 
is unstinted. In the analyses of manurial substances 
he instituted at the instance of the Planters’ Associa- 
tion in 1878, castor cake occupies first place among 
oil cakes. He says, “ Taking white castor cake as 
represented by analysis for our standard of comparison, 
and taking 100 as the equivalent of such standard, we have 
the following comparative relation between the cakes.” 
In the table that follows, white castor is represented 
by 100 and occupies 1st place, and coconut poonac is 
represented by 53 and occupies a place only above 
Domba cake, and comes after China bean, rape, 
gingelly and other cakes. There are more recent analy- 
ses by Hughes, and more recent expressions of his 
opinion of the high value of it as a manurial agent ; 
but I think the opinion I have quoted ought to satisfy 
anyone that, for matters of comparison manurially, 
the two cakes cannot be spoken of in the same breath, 
more especially as at the present moment their price 
is nearly the same, while a short time back coconut 
cake was about half the price of castor cake. 
On the subject of frequent disturbance of roots I will 
not now enter, as I have expressed my opinion fully on 
the subject elsewhere in a controversy with a very 
old Planter. All I would say is that to me it seems 
opposed to reason to place food for a tree to feed on, 
and when it is being consumed and the requirements 
of the tree are increased, in cousequenc , to lessen 
the “ mouths ” of that tree. I was told recently 
that my opinion is opposed to experience, because 
when a tree showed signs of distress by the yellowing 
of its fronds, the remedy suggested was to cut the 
roots, and that this treatment invariably proved 
successfid. I pointed out. in reply that the yellowing 
of the fronds may have been due to want of drainage 
in the soil, and that the improvement in the condition 
of the tree that followed the turning up of the soil 
was due to its aeration, and not to the roots of the 
trees having been cut. 
The appearance of sickly tees in a plantation at 
uncertain intervals and surounded by healthy trees 
is an eyesore. The cause for this is so far a con- 
jecture, for no one can say to a certainty what the 
resulting plants are from the seed he put down. 
While in European agriculture the selection of seed 
is considered as of paramount importance, and this 
mind you in the cultivation of cereals where the results 
of carelessness need not extent to beyond one crop, 
here in the cultivation of a perennial like the coconut, 
where a property is inherited by two or three gener- 
ation in succession, the selection of seed is not con- 
sidered to be of primary importance. Those who do 
not believe that an unhealthy tree is the result of 
an unhealthy seed, point triumphantly to the laws of 
heredity being often set aside by a weakly or stupid 
father having a strong or clever child. They will not 
allow that these are the exceptions that go to prove 
the rule. Besiile.s, a child is the offspring of two parents, 
and very often if it does not inherit the character- 
istics of either of them, it does those of a member 
of the tamily to which they belong even to a few 
generations back. This is noticeable even in coconuts, 
All the varieties we have must have resulted from one 
original stock, as in the case of mankind. In ])lanting 
coconuts we aro not certain that the plants we raise 
from any ])articnlar seed will he true to type. I have 
on this Estate many trees raised from king coconuts. 
They bear the n:d skinned coconut wliich must have 
been the iimin diate progenitor in the first instance 
of the variety now known as the king roconiit. 'This 
“ harking buck ” is nolicoahle likewisu amongst lower 
animals. We have frequently one of a litter Of pups 
of quite a distinct breed to the parents, and when 
there is no uncertainty as to the sire. Very often 
the breed to which this pup belongs is not to be 
found in the neighbourhood. So in horses. There is 
one driven by a well-known gentleman in Colombo, 
known as well by his name as bv that of the “ Ceylon 
bell-ringer” in which he glories, that had for its sire 
a small-.sized Tat pony, owned by a road overseer, 
end for its dam an equally small-sized Acheen. The 
filly resembles an Australian for all the world, and 
ought to secure first p'ace for a long while amongst 
country bred ponies. AH this, it may he urged, by 
no means proves that unhealthy trees result from 
unhealthy seed. It is not intended to. — Local “Ex- 
aminer.” 
— ♦ 
COTTON SEED AND HULLS. 
Gradually the prejudice .against the use of cotton 
seed and hulls as a food for stock and hogs is being 
overcome, and their value is being appreciated. 
During the past winter hundreds of heads of_cattle 
were wintered on the hulls alone, which they eat ag 
readily as hay, and with no evil results. Used with 
cotton -seed meal, in the proportion of one pound of 
meal to four pounds of hulls, they have been found 
at the North Carolina Experiment Station to form 
a profitable feeding ration for steers. Wo take tbe 
following details from a press bulletin issued by Dr. 
Battle; 
“ Four steers fed at the N. 0. Experiment Station 
for 84 days, each ate on an average during this time 
1.517 lb. hulls and 383 lb. meal, or an average per dav 
of 18 lb. of hulls and 4g lb. of meal, which is 
almost exactly in proportion of 1 lb. meal to 4 of 
hulls. The average gain for each steer was 1481b., and 
the total cost for food was $6.85 each. The gain in 
weight and the increased value of the beef over the 
original cost gave an average profit on tbe above steers 
of (919.38 per liead in cash. The v.alue of the manure 
in addition will doubtless pay for all the trouble.’, 
The roasting of the seed is advised by those who 
have used them for feeding hog.s, and several machines 
have been introduced for the purpose. The one most 
commended is like a coffee-roa.sting mill, but made 
of fine wire gauze. Into this the seed is placed, and 
turned slowly over a fire until the lint is destroyed 
and the seed roasted so that it readily grinds in a 
mill. Hogs have been fed solely on these roasted 
seeds, and have made splendid fat animals, with a 
first-rate qu.ality of meat. With all the facilities 
afforded bv the abundance of cotton seed and hulls, 
why should the South buy either beef or bacon from 
the West ? It can be produced here cheaper than 
there, and the freight be entirely saved. It seems 
almost as though Mr. Atkinson’s prediction was yet 
to come true, that the lint would come to be tbe least 
valuable part of the cotton crop.— Soirt/imi Planter. 
«. 
“ Kew Bulletin.” — The current number contains 
articles on the cultivation of Anotta in West Africa, 
and on the preservation of grain from Weevils, for 
which the employment of bisulphide of carbon, IJ-lb. 
to the ton, is recommended. A ball of tow is tied oii 
the end of a stick long enough to be plunged to ♦he 
middle of the vessel holding the grain. 'I'he tow is 
soaked in the liquid bisulphide, and immediately thrust 
into the vessel. Naphthaline in powder is recommended 
for the same ]iurnose, applied by means of a fiibe or 
funnel. The naphtlialine evaporates, kills the insect.s, 
and in no wise injures the grain. Colombian India- 
rubber comes also under notice. This is said to bo tbe 
produce of one of the many varieties of S.npiura big- 
landulosum. Tho tree grows at higher elevations than 
most of its race, and i.s in consequence adapted for a 
cooler climate. The cultivation of Agave rigida in 
B.aliamas is the subject of another note. Tho fibre 
is known ns Sisal, and the progress of the culture 
in tho Bahamas is described as something marvellous. 
— Gardeners’ Chronicle. 
