EXPERIMENTS WITH COCONUT PALMS 
19 
Palm 
t He 
10 
IZ 
of the 50 most productive palms was G.9 feet, whereas that of the 
50 least productive palms was 5.9 feet. The production of the 
303 palms during the first two periods was compared on a basis 
of elevation. The 131 palms at elevations of less than 6 feet averaged 
113.6 nuts per palm, whereas the 114 palms at 6 to 6.9 feet elevation 
averaged 130.7 nuts and the 58 palms at 7 to 9.2 feet elevation 
averaged 180.8 nuts. This is shown graphically in Figure 13. 
Evidently the better 
drainage afforded by 
the higher elevations 
was an important- 
factor in promoting 
heavier production. 
\ 
NUT SIZE 
The diameters of 100 
unselected, intermixed 
nuts from each plat 
were measured in each 
of the first 20 harvests. 
The minimum, aver- 
age, and maximum of 
the 20 average diame- 
ters obtained for each 
plat are given graphi- 
cally in Figure 14. 
This graph shows the 
variation between plats 
in average nut diame- 
ter to have been slight. 
The greatest difference 
in minimum measure- 
ments between plats 
was only 0.1 inch and 
between maximum 
measure ments 0.15 
inch, whereas the aver- 
ages showed an ex- 
treme difference in nut 
diameter of only 0.05 
inch, or 1 per cent. 
For a more detailed 
examination for possi- 
ble effects of fertilizer 
on nut size, the measurements for the 20 harvests were grouped into 
four periods of five harvests each. The average nut diameters for 
the different plats for each period are shown in Figure 15. The 
size of the average nut in the second 5-harvest period was greater 
than that in the first similar period in every plat. Since this increase 
in size occurred in the check as well as in the treated plats, it could 
not be attributed to fertilization. The third period showed a de- 
crease in size in every plat except the check, followed by an increase 
5 < 
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M0000C elevations below 5H 
I I I UMI elevations of 5-S.9 ft. 
Z=Z devotions of €-63 ft. 
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 elevations of 7 ft. ond orer 
Figdee 12. — Elevations above sea level in experimental 
plats, Boquillas plantation 
