Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1903-08-20
CULTIVATION OF CocoANUTs.
Essential to the Welfare
of the Trees.


Essential to the Welfare
of the Trees.
Although the true and original home
Of the cJcoanut is in India and the
South Sea islands, it has become so
widely diifused by the hands of man
and the waves of the ocean that 1t Is
now a prominent feature in almost
every tropical portion of the globe,
covering between 100000 and 4,0O0,-
coo acres with it's beautiful palms,
and numbering 25O,OOO,OOO trees, yield
ing annually 1O.OOO,OOO,OOO of cocoa
nuts, says Golden Days.
For many years coeoanuts have grown
On the coast CT 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
ripen. only sufficient to demonstrate
that c0coanuts can be raised for sever
ii hundred miles along the coast of
Florida, where the Gulf stream flows
30 close to the shore
Such nuts as are wanted for plant
'ng are gathered into heaps or placed
under sheds. where they are allowed
o remain until the sprout shows itself
through the husk. When planted in
:eeul7r order, holes three feet deep
md from IS 10 30 feet apart, are dug
m each hole a nut is placed with care,
md covered with about one foot OF
coil. The hole is filed gradually as
The sprout grows until it reaches the
surface. when it is left to itself, requir.
ing no further attention.
Should the place where the cocoanut
Is planted be any great distance from
the seashore 2 quantity Of salt IS
sometimes placed in the hole, and
sometimes scraps of old iron, as. be-
| Ing strictly saltwater loving tree
Il will thrive but a short distance
from the seashore, nearness to salt
water being absolutely essential to its
welfare. 1t Is said no magnet is truer
TO the pole than is the root Of the CO.
coanut tree to the ocean, for when the
root breaks through the husk it points
directly toward the sea, no matter in
what position the nut is placed in the
ground. Boring downward, the root
fastens Itself so deeply 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 a cOcoanut when
in the process of sprouting, you will
find directly beneath the sprouting
eye a small white mushroom-shape1
kernel. and in this little germ lies the
life of the future tree Shut up in its
prison-like shell, and the shell sur
rounded by many inches thick of
tough, tangled fiber, how is it to work
It's way out and perform the duty as
signed to it? For it is apparently as
soft and tender as a baby's hand
Soon its tiny fingers begin boring their
way 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,
sending its shoot upward to form the
tree and downward to form the roots,
still clinging to its parent for sup
port, until the entire inside of tbs
shell is filed with a round ball-lile
substance formed by the CONCEALED
milk Of the cocoanut.
From it the roots fast forming re-
ceive their staff Of life until the
mother cocoanut becomes exhausted,
and, having fulfilled her mission, is
deserted by her offspring and left
dead and useless mass of fiber.
On grows the tree, sending deep in
to the ground it's roots and high into
the air its trunk, until after a lapse
Of from five to eight years It has at
tanned height of from 40 to 60 feet,
and then pays tribute to mother earth
by bearing its first fruit, and under ia
vorable circumstances, continuing to
yield more than half century, giving
its owner from 100 to 200 marketable
nuts a year.
Through the center of the trunk Of
the cocoanut tree is a soft. fibrous
heart. which furnishes the life of the
tree and acts as a pump in forcing to
the nuts the immense quantity Of
water required to fill them.
This fibrous heart has a wonderful
filtering power. for no matter in what
location the tree may be growing,
either upon the beach or in malarial
swamps near pools of stagnant water,
when nature has done her work she
deposits in the cocoanut a sparkling
LIQUID as clear as crystal and as cool
as If drawn from the deepest well.
Having no particular season for fruit
ing. but bearing all the year around,
blossoms, ripe and green fruit may be
found on the same tree.
The blossom of the cocoanut is
beautiful and peculiar work Of ma
lures art Appearing at the base OF
the long, ragged leaves It is a gourd-
like sheath, green in color, and stand
ing erect until its own weight causes 1t
to bend downward, where it hangs
until the stems it incloses, which are
to bear and sustain the nuts, are suf1-
GENTLY matured to proceed on their
Journey without protection. When
this outer covering splits open it re-
veals a cluster Of ragged stems, upon
each of which will be found miniature
cocoanuts requiring about ii months to
ripeD.
Merely a suggestion.
Remember, boys" said the teach
err, that in the bright lexicon of
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