Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1921-01-05
IB00MS like Gun
WHEN BLOOMING
Tree Provides Burglar Alarm to
Keep Thieves Away.
is ALL AROUND PROVIDER
With Nearly All the Necessities o.
Q Life and Has as Many Uses az
There Are Days in the Year-Nut
When Green Is Food and Drink
By-Products Are Valuable.

For the coconut palm are found
more uses than for perhaps any other
tree In the world, says the American
Forestry association of Washington,
This tree booms like a gun wher
blooming and provides the "apple
Jack" of the tropics for the natives as
well as its own burglar alarm TO keep
thieves away from its fruit. 1t is said
by the people whom it furnishes with
nearly all the necessaries of life that
II has as many uses as there are days
IN the year; but that seems 10 be an
underestimate; for surely 365 days
necessities would never meet the de-
maDd of a modern up-to-date man or
woman of the temperate zone.
The coconut palm is a magnificent
tree often reaching a height of 100
feet and crowned with wide spreading
fronds often 20 feet In length. The
Gond consists of strong mid-rib
which terminates in long slender leaf
lets, giving the entire frond the ap-
pearance OF 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 TO twelve inches in length and
from six to eight inches In diameter.
4 Original HabItatlon Not Known.
This palm is so generally spread over
the tropical world that its original
habitation is not known, the American
Forestry Magazine points out. 1t
luxuriates 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 planta-
tons. The Malay peninsula is fringed
with these graceful trees. They are
everywhere over both the East and
West Indies and tropical America.
The huge triangular nuts are water
proof, as though made To navigate the
seas and reach every shore, which
they surely have done, for on every
island and coral islet of the Pacific
ocean they are found. They reach
their greatest vigor by the sea; on
the seashore they lean towards the
water as though TO send their seed
adrift for other lands.
The spathe or flower case is Of a
hard woody substance from four 10
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;
II 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 cOir 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 ~ making corrections.
From it the valuable commercial prod
net called cOcOnut oil is pressed, and
from the oil candles, butter and soap
are made. An average yield of a tree
is GO nuts. A thousand nuts will pro-
duce % gallons Of oil. The climate
Of CeylOn is well adapted 10 all kinds
Of palms and embraced In her many
plantations there are said 10 be over
3OOOI,OCO trees.
The wealth 81 the CeylOnese ~
usually estimated Dy ne number Of co-
cOnut trees they CEE. Native b0ats
from the Ma.flze ls.sEls sometimes
arrive 10 CeyiOn, bEs.'. rizzsd. pro
visioned and laden With The produce
81 the cOcOBUt palms. A shlpWrecked
crew was cast upon the South Sea Is
lands where the party remained for
several months living solely On coco
outs and a little broiled FISH: when
they returned they had all Increased
10 weight.
5y-Produet Valuable.
The by-product is oIl-cake which Is
Of great value the Forestry Magazine
adds. Tie trunks Of the trees are
used for innumerable 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 fan, and there is no pole or
ladder 10 reach 100 feet: climbing is
the only way, and cOcOnut tree climb
ing Is a trade in cOCOnut countries.
Professional tree climbers have the
speed and agility Of monkeys To
facilitate the operation they place a
strong loop Of coir rope around the
feet near the ankles this enables them
10 grip the tree securely and ascend
the highest trees with amazing alac-
rity.
Coconuts being the native wealth,
eOcOnut thieves are not uncommon.
y Tie owners of plantations have
unique system Of thief alarm: dry
fronds are bound TO the tree from the
ground upwards for about twenty
feet and ii is impossible for the thief
10 remove or climb over these with
ont making great noise which
arouses the Waterman who is never
FAR awsy.