226 
ed on ant heaps than in the ground itself is interesting, perhaps 
there is some particular virtue in earth so worked up ? but the 
more likely reasons appear to me to be either that the surrounding 
ground is insufficiently drained, for Ficus elastica is exceedingly 
impatient of wet when young, or that being naturally an epiphyte 
the higher it is off the ground the more air it gets and conse- 
quently the better it comes on. 
COCONUTS. 
The present price of coco-nuts $33 per 1,000 and the recent 
very high price $37 must be very encouraging to those planters 
who do not put all their eggs into one basket; and who are con- 
tent with fair returns on their capital. While fortunately it is true 
that, there is little probability of other crops like Rubber exceed- 
ing the demand for some considerable time to come, and conse- 
quently Planters suffering a great drop in prices. Still, those Plant- 
ers who have judiciously planted up parts of their Estates with Co- 
conuts "may rests assured, that, although they will not make rapid 
fortunes, have nevertheless a staple crop which may reasonably be 
expected to yield a steady return, and so to a great extent elimin- 
ate that worry which the speculative element connected with 
planting crops which are sometimes, liable to rapid fluctuations in 
price entail. Perhaps no plant in the vegetable kingdom, has so 
much literature in connection with its history, growth, and uses as 
the Coco-nut Palm, nor probably is there any other single plant 
which so richly deserves to be written about. It is scarcely an 
exaggeration to say that it has as many uses as there are days in 
the year, .certainly there is no part of the plant but what is useful 
for some purpose or another. I do not propose to enumerate the 
uses, nor to say much about its cultivation here, as these matters 
have been gone into so fully in such works as Watt’s Dictionary 
of Economic Products, Ferguson’s Coco-nut Planting etc. For 
the information of those Planters, however, who are contemplating 
* planting coco-nuts and have not access to the books 1 have men- 
tioned I may say that the first thing to be considered is selection of 
site. Now while the coco-nut is a truly littoral plant, and thrives 
best in the vicinity of the sea, it is a mistake, as some suppose 
that it will not grow away from the sea, and so. far as the Malay 
States are concerned this point need not trouble intending planters - 
The second point for consideration would be soil, and the answer 
to this would be a fine loamy soil, which if slightly inclined to be 
sandy, so much the better. The soil at Klang appears to suit 
them admirably as the accompanying figures show. Fig. I shews 
a four year old tree come April, and I think it would be hard to 
shew a finer tree at the age, the comparative height is shewn by 
the manager standing close by. Fig. II from the same Estate is if 
anything even a more promising specimen of robust vigour. 
For the rest it need only be said that coco-nuts begin bearing in 
from seven to ten years, and should produce when in full bearing 
anything from 50 nuts and upwards annually, and go on ffiearin g 
