The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-04-22
THE CoCoANUr IN FLORIDA.
How 1t Came to be Planted There.
Success in Its Culture

A4OW IL SbU10 10 Dc E4dut0Q mere
Success in Its Culture
Lake Worth (FlaO Cor. Chicago Tribune.
While the cocoanut tree abounds i'll South
Florida it is not native of the section, nor
has the fruit been cultivated here for anv
great length Of time About sixteen years
ago Bahama vessel was wrecked off the
coast near Jupiter Inlet. Soon after the
waves began bringing the cargo ashore,
among which were found large number of
cocoauuts. Residents were very few in this
section at that time, but they gathered to-
gether and appropriated what came to them.
These cocoanuts were considered great
prizes aud were at once planted. The soil
was found to be Indigenous to the growth,
and they thrived wonderfully. Thus was
| introduced the culture of the nut upon the
soil OF the North American continent. In
Dade county, one OF the southernmost
counties of the state, which has a sea front
of 100 miles, there are now groves of great
beauty containing from 100 tor 6 200 trees.
Cocoanut culture is very simple. The ripe
nut is plucked from the tree, and, in the
outer husk that surrounds iC, is put under
ground, lightly covered with soil The
first shoot should make its appearance in
one month after planting, but it is often
two before it comes. When 1t is about a
foot high it is trsnsplanted to its perma-
nent resting-place. If the nut is planted as
a nursery stock the husk is left on, as the
young plant is very tender, and it seems
that growth out of the husks has a ten
dency to make stronger the reed-like joints.
II it be first planted where it Is to remain
the husk is usually removed. For the first
year the plant requires careful protection
from the winds but it, gradually grows
hardy, and at the end of six years begins
bearing. The blooms make their appear
ance-a dozen or more fingers. looking like
grains of corn strung on wire about foot
in length. These grains are the young nuts.
They ripen in years. time. and thereafter
until its death the tree is never without
fruit in various stages OF ripeness, from a
tiny lobe the size of pea to ripe nuts, and
there is not a day in the year when ripe
nuts cannot be secured. 1t has been de-
monstrated in other countries that the
cocOanut tree will bear fruit for twenty-five
years. To what age they live has not been
ascertained.
The trees make most beautiful aud i'm
posing grove, being truly tropical in their
appearance. AS they are planted only about
twenty feet apart, they cast a thick ,unvary-
ing shade. They are evergreen, as is most
tropical foliage. and their gracefulness,
with the great hight they attain, makes
them desirable addition to home in the
far south. The diameter of the tree ranges
from one foot to four, and they attain
hight Of l25 feet, having as many as 100
nuts on them at one time
The old fashioned method of grating the
nut has been superseded by machine for
grinding, and the residents of the southern
country keep on hand for their use fresh
supply of homemade desiccated cocoanut,
from which various toothsome dishes are
prepared. The product is becoming more
generally known by reason of its excellent
fiber, and the "cloth," a strong, fibrous
bark that grows far above the ground, is
utilized in many ways. If the use Of cocoa
nut butter ever becomes common the owner
of grove Of these trees viii see his fortune
ahead. The butter is made from the oil of
the nut expressed by machinery. Even the
raw grated nut is an excellent substitute
for Shortening" in bread, the grated nut
in the same quantity being substituted for
lard. The cooking process seems 10 destroy
entirely the vegetab Bile taste and appearance,
and biscuit made with it are pronounced as
good as real cream biscuit.
Shorn of its cocoanut growth tropical
country would certainly be less attra tive
in appearance. The long, feathery leaves,
that undulate so gracefully in the breeze
which signs among them; the Everlasting
green" of their coloring; their tall stateli-
ness and their symmetry, beautify the
whole country where they grow-especially
the South Florida country, where they
grow In such profuslon.