MaPvCH  1,  1897.]  Supplement  to  the  “ Iropiertl  Agricnltnrht,  ” 
6.0.9 
having  been  prepared  for  them.  In  rich  soils  the 
pits  m.ay  be  small,  but  in  poor  soils  1 to  2 yards 
wide  and  2 to  3 feet  deep.  In  cold  clay  soils  these 
pits  sliould  be  ^lled  with  sand.  In  marshy  land 
walls  should  be  constructed  round  them.  Ashes 
are  often  recommended  to  be  freely  mi.xed  with 
the  prepared  soil  to  he  put  into  the  as  this 
is  supposed  to  prevent  the  attacks  oi  l he  beetles 
that  prove  so  destructive  to  the  tree.'.  Cultiva- 
tion of  turmeric,  arrowroot  &c.  in  t lie  pits,  along 
with  coconuts  is  believed  to  be  beneficial.  Tlie 
soil  round  the  seedlings  is  also  often  kept  damp 
by  a bed  of  leaves,  particularly  such  as  will  not 
encourage,  but  rather  check,  the  approach  of  ants 
into  the  prepared  soil.  If  the  soil  be  natiuailly 
poor,  salt,  ashes,  paddy-straw,  fish  manure,  goat’s 
dung,  and  dry  manure  may  be  added  during  tlie 
first  year. 
Treatment  of  Plantation. — By  the  end  of 
the  first  year  the  normal  leaves  will  begin  to 
form,  and  at  this  stage  the  soil  around  the  plants 
should  be  dre.ssed  and  ashes  added.  Every  suc- 
ceeding year  the  ground  should  be  opened  out 
and  manured  about  the  close  of  the  rains.  By  the 
fourth  year  the  stem  begins  to  appear  and  has 
about  12  leaves ; it  is  distinctly  visible  by  the 
fifth  year,  when  the  tree  has  about  24  leaves. 
The  spathes  commence  to  be  formed  by  the  sixth 
year,  and  the  stem  is  then  1 to  2 feet  above  the 
ground,  but  in  e.xceptionally  favourable  climates 
and  .soils  it  may  be  three  or  four  times  tliat  height. 
The  first  few  spathes  do  not  form  fruits,  but  bye- 
and-bye  they  begin  to  do  so,  and  in  three  or  four 
more  years  the  tree  is  in  full  bearing.  Dr.  Shortt 
says  that  in  good  soils  and  if  watered  the  coco- 
nut begins  to  jdeld  in  the  fifth  year,  but  in  poor 
soils  and  if  not  watered  they  only  commence  to 
yield  in  the  seventh  or  not  till  the  tentti  year. 
About  si.x  months  after  flowering  the  fruits  set, 
and  by  the  end  of  the  year  they  are  fully  ripe. 
Coconut  palms  may  be  easily  transplanted,  and 
indeed  often  with  advantags.  Some  of  the  fibrous 
roots  should  be  cut  away,  and  manure,  together 
with  a little  salt,  placed  in  the  pit  in  which  it  is 
intended  to  plant  tiie  tree. 
As  a rule,  the  coconut  throws  out  a spathe  and  a 
leaf  every  month;  each  flowering  spike  yields  from 
10  to  2.')  nuts.  The  produce  of  a tree  in  full 
health  and  properly  tended  may  be  from  oO  to  120 
and  even  200  mils  a year,  the  yield  depending 
greatly,  of  course,  on  the  suitability  of  the  cli- 
mate and  soil  for  coconut  cultivation  ; a safe 
average  would  be  100  nuts  a year  to  each  tree  in 
full  bearing.  The  coconut  will  continue  to  bear 
for  70  or  80  j-ears- 
NOTE  ON  LAG  BY  M.  RIDLEY,  Esq., 
SUPERINTENDENT  OF  HORTICULTURAL 
GARDENS,  LUCKNOW. 
Regarding  the  statement  conimonly  made,  and 
as  generally  believed,  that  “ iflac  is  not  removed 
from  trees  it  will  in  time  destroy  the  tree.<,’’  1 
have  practically  demonstrated  aiuf  proved  in  the 
most  conclusive  way  that  the  above  theory  is  in- 
correct and  entirely  at  variance  with  fucL  When 
I first  came  here,  23  years  ago,  the  matter  then 
came  under  my  notice  ; many  large  trees  in  the 
Wingfield  Park,  Residency  Ground.^  and  the  station 
avenues  were  badly  infested  with  lac,  and  the  plan 
then  in  vogue  wa.s  to  sell  the  lac  to  contractors, 
who  in  collecting  it  denuded  the  trees  to  a most 
objectionable  extent.  Tlii.s  led  me  to  think  of 
some  way  or  means  of  keeping  tlie  tiee.s  clear  of 
the  pest.  A Forest  ofiicer  informed  me  that  this 
could  be  done  by  lopping  off  all  tlie  leading 
branches  and  afterwards  stripping  the  branches 
and  stems  of  all  leaves  and  twigs,  the  object  being 
to  divest  the  trees  of  all  infected  parts  and  to  re- 
move all  trees  of  the  lac  insect  and  so  prevent  its 
breaking  out  on  and  spreading  over  the  trees  so 
treated  again. 
I adopted  this  plan  with  one  or  two  tree.s  in  the 
Wingfield  Park,  but  found  it  ineffectual,  as  on  the 
new  branches  ana  shoots  which  were  developed  lac 
again  appeared  as  bad  a.s  before.  This  plan  proved 
an  entire  failure  to  protect  or  keep  trees  clear 
of  lac. 
I then  decided  to  stop  lac  collecting  on  a few 
trees,  to  test  and  prove  the  theory  about  its  des- 
troying the  trees.  The  result  of  this  experiment 
was  that  after  a time  the  lac  all  disajipeare.l  and 
the  trees  in  a sliort  period  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  the  lac  and  became  perfectly  clean  and 
healthy  again.  This  is  absolute  fact,  and  I can 
show  numerous  large  peepul  and  pakar  trees 
which  at  one  time  were  so  infected  with  lac  as  to 
be  most  unsightly  objects,  now  entirely  free  from 
the  pest  and  the  trees  healthy  and  vigorous. 
On  the  representation  I made  to  NIr.  Boys,  when 
Deputy  Commissioner  here,  he  passed  Im  order 
prohibiting  the  sale  of  lac  from  trees  in  the  sta- 
tion, and  since  then  1 believe  no  lac  has  been  col- 
lected from  trees  on  avenues  and  groves  in  Luck- 
now ; certainly  none  has  been  collected  from  any 
of  the  gardens  or  other  public  grounds  in  my 
charge,  and  there  has  been  no  loss  of  trees  in  con- 
sequence. 
For  some  years  there  has  not  been  mueli  I.ic  mi 
trees  iuLucknowg  at  least  on  tl.ose  under  mv  imme- 
diate observation  ; but  whether  this  decrease  of 
lac  pest  is  due  to  collecting  being  prohibited  or 
to  the  seasons  not  favouring  its  spread  J am  not 
prepared  to  pronounce  an  opinion,  but  the  fact 
remains  that  it  has  been  much  less  in  evidence  for 
the  past  five  or  six  years  than  it  was  for  many 
preceding  years. 
I have  often  been  told  that  the  lac  gatherers  ino- 
culate trees  to  spread  and  propagate  lac.  The  re- 
sults here  rather  favour  tliat  statement.  Prohibi- 
tion may  have  shown  them  that  they  gain  nothing 
by  spreading  it,  and  this  may  lune  led  them  to 
cease  inoculating  trees  ; but  on  this  point  conclu- 
sive and  certain  evidence  is  not  forthcoming. 
1 most  decidedly  do  consider  that  trees  are  in- 
jured by  the  wmy  lac  is  generally  collected,  owing 
to  the  removal  of  such  a large  portion  of  the 
young  twiggy  growth  of  the  trees. 
Near  and  in  towns  the  object  of  this  free 
removal  of  twigs  is  two-fold:  one,  to  obtain  as  much 
lac  as  possible,  the  other,  to  make  money  by  selling 
the  tvNigs  for  firewood.  If  proper  and  efficient 
supervision  could  be  provi  ed,  lac  might  be 
removed  to  some  extent  by  collecting  dead  twi>/s 
and  a small  proportion  of  tlie  finer  ones.  The 
trees  wmuld  not  suffer  to  any  appreciable  degree  if 
collecting  was  done  in  this  svuy  ; but,  L the 
necessary  supervision  toensurethis  is  not  available, 
