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The trees are planted 25 feet apart. They are male and female, 
and the former predominate, 10 per cent of male trees is sufficient’ 
It is recommended to plant 2 trees in a hole— 2 feet distant— and 
when the flowers appear, the male can be removed. 
A crop may be expected after 7 years, and there are usually three 
crops in the year. The ripe nut takes 6 months to grow from the 
flower. Some of my trees are sickly, but that is owing to neglect, or 
to having a Durian tree, with its long roots, near them. A fungus is- 
to be found on the leaves of some trees, but it does not appear to be 
injurious. 
Slugs will eat the mace, if the fruit is not picked up daily. 
Half my nutmegs I sell unripe to the Chinese, who make preserves 
of them. Excellent jelly is made of the skins. 
R. Little. 
A FURTHER USE FOR THE COCONUT. 
The fruit of the coconut is made into copra, which is the chief 
ingredient of soap, &c. It is also made into sweetmeats, &c. The 
husk or coir is made into rope and mats, and used for mattresses 
and furniture. 
No extensive use has hitherto been made of the shell. It is pro- 
posed to send it to Europe, for button manufacture. Buttons are 
already made out of it, on a small scale, by the natives, and they 
command a ready sale. 
Glass buttons are chiefly made in Bohemia. Pearl buttons are 
almost exclusively a Vienna product, but shirt buttons are made 
chiefly in Birmingham, _ which is also the seat of the metal button 
trade. The most extensive kind of button manufacture is that of the 
Parisian and Berlin novelties. 
R. Little. 
A PLEA FOR VEGETABLE CULTIVATION. 
Tobacco may be grown in Sumatra, and wheat in Manitoba, without 
manure, but in England, Australia and New Zealand, manure is es- 
sential for successful vegetable growing. Such being the case, it is 
not to be wondered at, that the cultivation of English vegetables with 
little or no manure, has hitherto not been successful in Singapore. 
fi +, o referrin ^ to books of gardening, I find for lettuces, for example, 
that 2 cwt. stable manure, should be applied to a bed 16£' x 16|' 
and about 2 lbs., of nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia. Also 
liquid manure, during the growth of the plants. I visited a house 
recently, in which a lady of the house, had sown a square yard of 
lettuces, and they were doing splendidly. 
In England, there is a tomato farm that covers 30 acres. This 
year the number under cultivation is 380,000. In British Columbia a 
grower obtained $>1,000 gold last year from a single acre of tomatos. 
I ^have purchased a tin of English vegetable seeds, and hope to give 
the result of my experience. 
