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COCONUTS. 
OBSERVATIONS ON COCOjNUT EXPERIMENTS. 
By Gr. E. Coombs, b.sc, 
(Economic Botanist , F.M.S.) 
AND 
W. S. Cookson, 
(Manager, Bindings Coconut Estates , Bindings , 8.8.) 
S a Conference subject this subject is almost ideal as heretofore 
experiments in coconut culture have been laid down on any 
but uniform lines, and an occasion of this nature provides opportunity 
of indicating — for purposes of discussion — some of the guiding 
principles which should direct the evolution of methods. 
The experimenter in agricultural science and in particular the 
experimenter in that part of the science which deals with crop 
production, where experiment is directed to the causation and actual 
measurement of increase of crop returns, has to approach his object 
with extreme caution, for he is called upon to work with material of 
widely varying natures and, if the extent of these variations is not 
examined critically he is exceedingly likely to arrive at erroneous 
results. 
It is a point of fundamental importance that before judgment in 
the sense of an expression of actual measured yield-effect, can be 
passed on the values of different treatments given to any crop, the 
facts of the variation in yield which blocks of the crop show under 
as far as possible uniform conditions must be determined. With 
this knowledge, logical interpretation may be placed on results 
obtained. The method has been evolved to a high degree of 
perfection in experiments with annual crops and in this case 
accurate experiments can be carried out on land of small dimensions, 
but the case of permanent crops, e.g., fruit trees, though amenable 
to precisely similar methods, presents added pitfalls and difficulties. 
The factors which determine production of fruit in any stand of 
trees are : 
(1) The constitutional natures of the trees. Any block of 
them, unless they are of pure stock, may contain a 
number of varieties or sub-varieties of varying pro- 
ductive powers ; these varieties will contain individuals 
of varying productive powers ; and this cumulatively 
variable individuality, may be expressed by the presence 
of very precocious bearers and those approaching 
sterility. 
