The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-10-01

Nov th& Trss = gtatfed snd the va1uahls
/ Fruit Produced-
| Although the true and origina. home
Of the cocoanrt Is India and the South
Sea islands, II has become 50 widely
diffused by the hands Of man and the
waves Of the ocean that 1t Il now .
| prominent feature in almost every trop-
ical portion of the globe, covering be-
tween 5000, 600 and 4, 200, 600 acres with
its beautiful palms. and numbering
100000, 900 trees. yielding annually TO-
900. 00o. 900 Of cocoanuts
A recent approximate estimate Of the
area cultivated with the cocoanut palm
gave the following result: British In
dia and dependencies, 500, 600; Central
America, $50, 900; Ceylon, 800, 900; East
ern Archipelago and colonies, $50. 900;
Java and Sumatra go, 900; Mauritius,
Madagascar, Seychelles, and African
coast 100, 900; Pacific islands, including
! Fiji, New Caledonia. etc, $50, 600; Siam
and Cochin China, 100, 900, and West In
| dies, IS, 600
| And when Florida shall add her TO-
600 acres lying south Of the twenty
seventh parallel of north latitude, capa-
Bile Of growing 1000, 900 trees, we may
see at no distant day the North Ameri-
can cocoanut demanding no mean share
of commercial attention.
For many years cocoanuts have
grown on the coast of southern Florida,
but owing to an extreme fondness for
the green nuts manifested by those en-
| gagged in the sponge fishing along the
coast, few nuts have been allowed to
ripcn, only sufficient to demonstrate
thas cocoanuts can be raised for several
hundred miles along the coast of Elori-
da, where the Gulf stream flows SO
close to the shore. The cocoanut in-
dustry in that vicinity has received an
impetus Of late. Several northern cap
italists have gone to Florida and en-
barked in this industry, seeing Qike
Col Sellers) millions in it Within the
past four years over 800, 900 nuts were
| planted on the coast of Florida.
! Such nuts as arc wanted for planting
are gathered into heaps, or placed
under sheds, where they are allowed to
remain until the sprout shows itself
through the husk. When planted in
regular order, holes about three feet
deep, and from fifteen to thirty feet
apart, are dug. In the hole the nut is
planted with care, and covered with
about one foot of soil The hole is
filled gradually as the sprout grows,
until it reaches the surface, when it is
left to itself, requiring no further at
| tention.
| Should the place where the cocoanut
is planted be any great distance from
the seashore a quantity of salt is some
times placed In the hole, and sometimes
scraps of old iron. as, being strictly a
salt water loving tree, it will thrive but
short distance from the seashore,
nearncss to salt water being absolutely
4 essential to its welfare. In fact, is said
no magnet is truer to the pole than this
root of the coconut tree to the ocean;
for when the root breaks through the
husk it points directly towards the sea,
no matter In what position tho nut is
placed in the ground.
| Boring its way downward the root
fastens itself so deep and firmly in the
ground that no tornado no matter how
severe. has ever been known to wrench
/ it from its moorings; but the hurricane,
SO frequent in the tropics, will often
twist the trunks and carry the broken
portions long distance, thus ending
that cocoanut palm, as it will
not sprout a second time. Could
you examine q cocoanut when it in the
process OF sprouting you will find di-
rectly beneath the sprouting eye a
small, white. mushroomsshaped kernel,
and=in this little germlies the4life of
the future tree. Shut up in its prison
like shell, and the she'll surrounded by
many inches thick of tough and tangled
fiber, how is it to work its way out and
perform the duties assigned to il? For
it is apparently soft and tender as
| baby's hand.
Soon its tiny fingers begin boring
their wav out of the weakest eye; then,
rending the tough, woody fiber right and
left, it forces itself to the surface and
commences the campaign of life, send.
ing its shoot upwards to form the tree
and downward to form the roots, still
clinging to its parent for support, until
the entire inside of the shell is filled
with a round, ball-like substance that
is formed by the CONCEALED milk Of the
|
ing receive their staff of life until the
mother coke becomes exhausted, and,
having fulfilled her mission, is deserted
by her offspring and left useless mass
| of fiber
On grows the tree, sending deep into
the grouni its roots and high into the
air its trunk until after lapse of from
five to eight years it has attained a
height of from forty to sixty feet, and
then pays tribute to mother earth by
] bearing its first fruit, and, under favor
able circumstances, continuing to yield
for more than half a century, giving
its owner from 100 to 200 marketable
nuts year.
Through the center of the trunk of
the cocoanut tree is soft fbrous heart
which furnishes the life of the tree and
acts as great pump in forcing to the
nuts the immense quantity of water re-
quired to fill them. This fibrous heart
has wonderful fitering power, for no
matter in what location the tree may
be growing, either upon the beach or
in the malarial swamps near the pools
of stagnant water, when nature has
done her work she deposits in the co.
coanut sparkling liquid as clear as
crystal and as cool as if drawn from
the deepest we'll in our northern yards.
Having no particular season for fruit
ing. but bearing all the year round,
blossoms, ripe and green fruit may be
found on the same tree.
The blossom of the cocoanut is most
beautiful and peculiar work of natures
art. Appearing at the base of the long
ragged leaves is a gourd-like sheath,
green in color, and standing erect until
its own weight causes it to bend down
ward, where IT hangs until the, stems it
incloses, which are to bear and sustain
the nuts, are sufficiently matured to
proceed on their journey without pro-
lection. When the outer covering splits
open it reveals cluster of ragged