PAL 
of the male, they are barren ; therefore in fuch | 
places where there are no male trees near the female, 
the inhabitants cut off the bunches of male flowers 
when they are juft opened, and carry them to the 
female trees, placing them, on the branches near the 
female flowers to impregnate them ; which, they all 
agree, has the defired effe<ft, rendering the trees fruit- 
ful, which would otherwife have been barren. Pere 
Labat in his account of America, mentions a Angle 
tree of this kind, growing near a convent in the ifland 
of Martinico, which produced a great quantity of 
fruit, which came to maturity enough for eating •, 
but, as there was no other tree of this kind in the 
ifland they were defirous to propagate it, and accord- 
inly planted great numbers of the ftones for feveral 
years, but not one of them grew ; therefore after 
having made feveral trials without fuccefs, they were 
obliged to fend to Africa, where thefe plants grew in 
plenty, for feme of the fruit •, the ftones of which 
they planted, and raifed many of the plants. He then 
conjectures, that the Angle tree before-mentioned, 
might be probably fo far impregnated by fome neigh- 
bouring Palm-trees of other fpecies, as to render it ca- 
pable of ripening the fruit, but not fuffleient to make 
the feeds prolific, as is the cafe when animals of dif- 
ferent kinds copulate. 
The flowers of both fexes come out in very long 
bunches from the trunk between the leaves, and are 
covered with a fpatha, (or fheath) which opens and 
withers •, thofe of the male have fix fhort ftamina, with 
narrow four-cornered fummits filled with farina. The 
female flowers have no ftamina, but have a roundifh 
germen, which afterward becomes an oval berry, 
with a thick pulp inclofing a hard oblong ftone, with 
a deep furrow running longitudinally. The bunches 
of fruit are fometimes very large. 
This fpecies of Palm is by Dr. Linnaeus titled Phoe- 
nix, which is the Greek name of it, and he makes it 
a diftinft genus. There are fome varieties, if not 
different fpecies of this tree, in the warm countries ; 
but as we cannot expeft to fee the trees in perfection 
in our country, it is not likely we ftiall come to any 
certainty how they differ from each other. 
Thefe plants may be eaflly produced from the feeds 
taken out of the fruit, (provided they are frefh) 
which ftiouid be fown in pots filled with light rich 
earth, and plunged into a moderate hot-bed of tan- 
ners bark, which fhould be kept in a moderate tem- 
perature of heat, and the earth frequently refreflied 
with water. 
When the plants are come up, they fhould be each 
planted into a feparate fmall pot filled with the fame 
light rich earth, and plunged into a hot-bed again, 
obferving to refrefh them with water, as alfo to let 
them have air in proportion to the warmth of the 
feafon, and the bed in which they are placed. Dur- 
ino- the fummer time they fhould remain in the fame 
hot-bed, but in the beginning of Auguft you fhould 
let them have a great fhare of air to harden them 
againft the approach of winter ; for if they are too 
much forced, they will be fo tender as not to be pre- 
ferved through the winter without much difficulty, 
efpecially if you have not the conveniency of a bark- 
ftove to keep them in. 
The beginning of October you mult remove the plants 
into the ftove, placing them where they may have a 
moderate fhare of heat (thefe being fomewhat ten- 
derer, while young, than after they have acquired 
fome ftrength •,) though indeed they may be fome- 
times preferved alive in a cooler fituation, yet their 
progrefs would be fo much retarded, as not to reco- 
ver their vigour the fucceeding fummer. Nor is it 
worth the trouble of raffing thefe plants from feeds, 
where a perfon has not the conveniency of a ftove to 
forward their growth ; for where this is wanting, they 
will not grow to any tolerable faze in twenty years. 
Whenever thefe plants are removed, (which fhould 
be done once a year) you rnuft be very careful not to 
cut or injure their large roots, which is very hurtful 
to them ; but you fhould clear off all the fmall fibres 
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which are inclinable to mouldinefs, for if theft are 
left on, they will in time decay, and hinder the frefh' 
fibres from coming out, which will greatly retard the 
growth of the plants. 
The foil in which thefe plants fhould be placed, 
muft be compofed in the following manner, viz. half 
of light frefh earth taken from a pafture ground, the 
other half fea-fand, and rotten dung or tanners bark* 
in equal proportion ; thefe fhould be carefully mixed, 
and laid in a heap three or four months at leaft before 
it is ufed, but fhould be often turned over to prevent 
the growth of v/eeds and to. fweeten the earth. 
You fhould alfo obferve to allow them pots proporti- 
onable to the fizes of the plants ; but you muft never 
let them be too large, which is of worfe confeqaence 
than if they are too fmall. During the fummer fea- 
fon they ftiouid be frequently refreflied with water, 
but you muft be careful not to give it in too great 
quantities; and in winter they muft be now and then 
refreflied, efpecially if they are placed in a warm 
ftove, otherwife they will require very little water ac 
that feafon. 
Thefe plants are very flow growers, even in their na- 
tive countries, notwithftanding they arrive to a great 
magnitude ; for it has been often obferved by feveral 
of the old inhabitants of thole countries, that the 
plants of fome of thefe kinds have not advanced two 
feet in height in ten years ; fo that when they are 
brought into thefe countries, it cannot be expeded 
they fhould advance very faft, efpecially where there 
is not due care taken to preferve them warm in win- 
ter. But however flow of growth thefe plants are in 
their native countries, yet they may be with us greatly 
forwarded, by placing the pots into a hot-bed of tan- 
ners bark, which fhould be renewed as often as is ne- 
ceffary, and the plants always preferved therein both 
winter and fummer, obferving to fhift them into 
larger pots as they advance in growth, as alfo to {‘ap- 
ply them with water properly, with which manage- 
ment I have had feveral of them come on very faft ; 
for I obferve the roots of thefe plants are very apt to 
root into the bark, if their pots remain a confi- 
derable time without fliifting, where they meet with 
a gentle warmth, and the moifture arifing from the 
fermentation of the bark doth preferve their fibres 
plump and vigorous ; but although the leaves grow 
tall in a few years with this management, yet it is 
long before the plants come to have tiny Items. There 
are plants now in the Chelfea Garden, v/hofe leaves are 
feven feet long, which were raffed from feeds more 
than twenty years ago, and their items are not two 
feet high, fome of which have produced fmall bunches 
of male flowers. 
The fecond fort here mentioned, is the Cocoa-nut, 
whofe fruit are frequently brought to England, fome 
of which are of a large fize. The branches of this 
tree are winged like thofe of the former, but the 
fmall leaves or lobes are three times as broad ; they 
open flat, their borders fold backward, and are of a 
lighter green than thofe of the firft fort. The whole 
leaf (or branch) is often twelve or fourteen feet long ; 
the male flowers grow in different parts of the fame 
tree with the fruit, proceeding from the trunk between 
the leaves ; they are difpofed in long bunches, as are 
alfo the female, the nuts growing in very large duffers, 
which are covered with a thick fibrous coat adhering 
clofely to them. The nuts are large, oval, and have 
three holes in the fiiell at the top the kernel is firm, 
white within, and the fhell contains a quantity of pale 
juice, which is called the milk. 
The Cocoa-nut is cultivated in moft of the inhabited 
parts of theEaft and Weft-Indies, but is fuppofcd a 
native of the Maldives, and the defert iflands of the 
Eaft-Indies, from whence it is fuppofed it hath been 
tranfported to all the warm parts of America ; for it 
is not found in any of the inland parts, nor any where 
far diftant from fettlements. It is one of the moft 
ufeful trees to the inhabitants of America, who have 
many of the common neceffaries of life from ir. The 
bark of the tree is made into cordage, the fiiell of the 
4 GUC 
