White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1920-10-31

LIE END hss % sAaAy Uess ~
, Then Ar oays In the vsar-Nut
whsh Green 10 Fsed M DRINK
e~y-Predvets Are Valuable.
For the cocobut palm are found
more uses than for perhaps any other
tree In the world, says the American
Forestry association Of Washington
This tree booins like q gun wl,er
blooming and provides the apple
jack" of the tropics for the natives n
well as It's w burglar alarm TO keep
by the people whom il furnishes with
nearly all the necessaries of life TINT
II has as many uses as there are day.
IN the year: hut that seems TO be an
underestimate: for surely 36J day
necessities would never meet Tie d..
woman OF the temperate one
The cocoDut palm is IA magnificent
tree often reaching a height of 100
feet and crowned with wide-spreading
frOnds often 20 feet I'm length. The
frond consists of a strong mid-rib
which terminates In long slender leaf
let's. giving the entire frond the sp-
pearance Of q gigantic feather. Among
the massive leaves growing from the
main stem Is the fruit, usually In clus-
tiers of from ten TO twenty nuts. from
eight 10 twelve inches In length and
from six 10 eight inches In diameter.
Original Habitatien Net Known.
This palm is so generally spread over
the tropical world that Its original
habitation Is not known, the American
Forestry Magazine points out. It
l%uXuriates In the sea air and abounds
along the east and west coasts of
southern India. The west coast Of
Ceylon from Colombo southwark for
over one hundred miles is a dense
wilderness of coconut palm planfa-
lions. The Malay peninsula Is fringed
with these graceful trees. They are
everywhere over both the East and
West Indies snd tropical America.
The huge triangular nuts are water
proof, ~ though made to navigate the
seas and reach every shore, which
they surely have done, for on every
island and coral isIet of the Pacific
ocean they are found. They reach
their greatest vlgor by the sea on
the seashore they lean towards the
water as though to send their seed
adrift for other lands.
The spatbe or flower case Is of a
hard woody substance from four to
five feet In length, and when this case
bursts to release the blossom II is
like the report of a gun. These huge
flower cases are tapped at the base for
the sweet sap they contain. The sap
Is boiled down into an excellent sugar /;
il is fermented into arrack, the apple
Jack of the tropics.
Food and Drink.
The nut when green Is food and
drink when ripe. its husk yields the
coir fiber from which mats, ropes
cordage, brushes and woven colr mat
ting are made. The inner hard shell is
made into cups, dippers and other YES
sells: the kernel Is the copra of com
merce used in making CONNECTIONS.
From il the valuable commercial prod
uct called coconut oil Is pressed, and
| from the oil candles, butter and SOAP
are made. An average yield of a tree
is co nuts. A thousand nuts will pro-
duce % gallons of oil. The climate
of Ceylon is well adapted TO all kinds
of palms and embraced in her many
plantations there are said TO he over
100000 trees.
The wealth of the C~eylonese is
usually estimated by the number of CO.
conut trees they own. Native boats
from the Maldize islands sometimes
arrive in Ceylon, built, rugged. pro
visioned and laden with the produce
of the coconut palms. A ~shipwrecked
crew was cast upon the South Sea Is
lands where the party remained for
several months living solely on coco
nuts and a little brolled fish when
they returned they had all increased
in weight.
} By-Produet Valuable.
The by-product is oil-eake which is
of great value the Forestry Magazine
adds. The trunks of the trees are
used for innumerabie purposes besides
house building and furniture, and the
wood In Europe is called porcupine
wood because Of the vascular growth
resembling the quilts Of that animal,
Mature %coconuts fall from the trees
but planters cannot always wait for
them to fall, and there is no pole or
ladder to reach 100 feet: climbing IL
the only way. end coconut tree climb
ing Is q trade in coconut countries
Professional tree-cllmbers have the
speed and agility Of monkeys. To
facilitate the operation they place q
strong loop Of coir rope around the
feet near the ankles this enables them
to grip the tree securely and ascend