198 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Sept, i, 1897. 
itisni, inasniucli as tlie desire to safeguard the 
public interests \voul<l certainly dispcse the 
Government to refuse shnilar applications from 
many others 
o. As I’egards paragraph o! your leUer, 1 
would refer yon to tlic Goccnunait (razcifc 
of May 1st, isiif), and wnmhl further jioint out 
that a ecjoly wlio had cleansed salt of its im- 
]imities and rendered it marketaVde. would not 
]irobably eim--nme it himself, fmt would sell or 
e.xdiange it in the bazaar. 
d. It may be nientioneil (hat in IS87, a similar 
aijplication from a well-known member ol the 
liiercantile Community in Colombo was relused on 
the same grounds. 
5. Hi.s Excellency regrets therefore that the 
Government is not in a position to meet your 
wishes. — I am, sir, j'our obedient servant, 
H. L. CRAWFORD, for Colonial Secretary. 
COCONUTS AND SALT, 
Veyangoda, July lo. 
Dear Slli,--1 was much interested in Mr. 
Coehian’s re|)oi t on his iuialysis of coconut husk, 
(see t<age 173). The manui ial value of I he husk is 
w'ell-known; and even villagers bury or dig in the 
husk round coconut trees. As a rule, however, 
they ]ircfer to spread it on the surface round a 
tree, fuit more frei[uently they let heaps of husk 
rot i)i situ. This neglect of a valuable maimre 
is not always due to ignorance of the fact that 
it is a manure. Heaps of cattle manure, whose 
virtues the most ig ioiant will not deny, may 
be seen .similarly lei I unapjtlied. The neglect is 
generally due to twm reasons — 1st, idlene.ss, or 
unwillingness to trouble oneself to transport 
and dig in the valuable stuff which is all 
there, and with which no one wdll mu away ! And 
second the superstition that manures are ulti- 
mately hurtful to a tree — that if once airplied, its 
discontinuance wall be iipiurious it not fata! to the 
tree; but 1 have never been able to get an answer 
to the qiiestimi, wbiy one should discontinue 
the use of a thing proved to be protitable. 
Any way, even the occasional and inlrequent 
api>lication of the husk, in however primitive 
a fashion, is evidence that it is recognised as 
a manure; and [ presume, the soil derives the bene- 
lit of the same constiluents from the husk, whether 
buried or reduced to aslies — only in the fonner 
case the alisorption of the manure is much 
slower. Mr. Cochran’s interesting and practical 
investigations are of special value, because they 
liirnish accurate information on the constituents 
of the busk ;isli ; for tliougli he deals tenderly 
with the analysis which i\Icssrs. David.son and 
Lepiiie liavc published, tho gieat ditlercnce 
between bis uini tlieir iig\ires e;umot be entirely 
explained away in the imiuner he suggests. 
Blit e\ i u his more modc.st figur(is prove that a 
ton of (he crude ash i . worth R81J, ami that 
the liu.sk of bo,UU0 nuts wijuld produce that 
quantity, giving about Rl '24 us the value of 
liusk.s for their jiotasli ami jihosphoric acid 
alone? I was at lir.st under the im)ircssiou that it 
was a ton of poiash which was r allied at R8U. That 
would hare reduced the ralue of the husks to 
about orie-third the price stated ; but on re read - 
ID"- Mr. Cochran' - calcuJatioii.s, I .see 1 am 
mistaken. (Jn his sliowdiig, proprietors part 
with liusks at much below tlieir maiiurial value 
in selling them to libre niill.s, buD the question 
remains, rvill the mills he able to afford to buy 
ihcm at moie than tlieir ralue as a manure? 
The coir fibre and bristle trade is believed to 
be overdone, and the margin of inolit is said 
to be very small. What would the etlect ol a 
rise in the jiricc of the rarv material be ? Then, 
1 siipjrose, analysis of the soil alone can deter- 
mine whether it needs all the eon.stitnents rvliieli 
the husks taken from it yield.s, and rvhether 
its neeits may not he more etficiently and econo- 
mically .su))plied in other ways. 'I'hen again, 
there is the further question — liorr much ol the 
maiiurial cou-stituents is taken array by iiiaiiu- 
facture, and liorv imicli reiiiain.s in the refuse 
coir dust? The dust is kiiorvii (o be an e.\- 
cclleiit deodorizer, and its etticacy a^ a ilefeii- 
sir e armour for sliip> betrveeii plates or [dank - 
has been asserteti. If its ashes contain 
an appreciable proportion of the constituents 
which the hu.sk has been credited rvith by 
analysis — then estates may take back the dust 
after selling the husk 1 and, who knorvs how 
much more that is valuable in coconuts and is 
now allorved to run to rr aste, may be rescued by 
science for the benelit of proprietor and manu- 
facturer ? 
fhougli 1 have not systematically reduced husks 
tj aslie.s, I bare used tliem largely to jniek 
ti ouches and to till uji de|)ressio:is rritli good 
results; while I have sold husks to fibre INlills 
only rvlien carriage rvas ['•'S-eticaliy free. Tlnit 
is rvhenever T send my carls lor road.-'ide 
cattle manure, I send them laden wilh husks 
if available. Otberrvise husks are retained 
for a[»plication to trees. After Mr. Cochrans 
letter, it is a question to be considered rvlietlier 
I gain any advantage, and horv iiincli, by ex 
changing a cart of husks for a cart of cattle 
manure. Curiously, only last rveek when I bad 
the [deasure of taking the Director of Public 
Instruction over this jilace, we discussed the uses 
of husk, ami I mentioned to him its ricliness in 
potash, and made special reference to the sharp 
taste of the ash audits resemblance to saltpetre. 
1 h d no analysis in view then, but as Mr. 
Coeliran states that no wood ashes he has ever 
analysed bad more potash than the ash of coco- 
nut husks, I would ask him whetlier he has 
ever analyse ! the lantana bush ? I have a re- 
collection' that Mr. Dixon, the lirst Scienw 
Master of the Royal College, found lantana the 
richest of all vegetable substances in potash, but 
Mr. Cull was unable to confirm my impression. 
Then, there remains the question of salt. Its 
[ireserice in such large quantities in tho asii — two- 
liftlis of the weiglit— is additional reason for the 
use of hnsk as manure, esjieeiaily in inland 
districts ; hut I must reserve what I have to .'ay 
oil salt for another occasion. 
Faithfully Yours, 
„ ' 
“ AljH OF COCONUT HUSK ; AND 
VALUE OF SALT AS A MANURE. 
Colombo, July 17. 
Sn;,— Referring to vour correspondent’s re- 
marks as followts — I would iiieainvhile point 
out that Mr. Cochran’s calculatioii.s are rather 
out. Has he not taken the weight of ash 
in working out tho value of the potasli ? ” — I 
would reply yes, l ortainly ; but not in .such a 
manner as to “ enha.nce the value of the husk 
3-fold.” The value put on the crude ash is 
simply the value due to its contents of [lotash 
snd phosphoric acid, so that there is no mistake. 
The question as to the value of common salt 
as a manure has always been a disputed one ; 
