and neglected husks that he can
now procure from adjoining estates for the asking and cartage.

With labor at 1 peso per diem and at the present price of potash and
phosphoric acid, all the husks in excess of 300 per diem which could
be hauled would be clear profit. The ashes of these, when burned and
applied to the old grove, would have an immediate and revivifying
influence.

Many trees in an old plantation have ceased to bear. Whether this is
due to exhaustion from old age or from soil exhaustion is immaterial;
each should be eradicated and the time-honored custom of replanting
a fresh tree in its place abandoned. These renewals are difficult
enough in any fruit or nut orchard where the scientific cultural
conditions have been of the best. Renewals in a cocoanut grove,
unless the vacant space is abnormally large and can be subjected to
some years of soil improvement, are unprofitable.

There is a wide range of opinion as to the bearing life of a cocoanut
tree. It is said to vary from thirty to one hundred and thirty
years. Grown more than forty, or possibly fifty years old, the writer
would hesitate to undertake the improvement or renewal of the grove.

Palms, unlike exogenous trees, afford no evidence by which their
age may be determined. In general, with advanced years, come great
height and great attenuation. In the open, and where fully exposed
to atmospheric influences, these form an approximate criterion of
age. The so-called annular scars, marking the earlier attachments of
leaves, furnish no clue to age.

NOTES

[1] "The Prince of Palms," Treloar.

[2] The cocoanut palm has been reared as far north as Indian River,
Florida, latitude 28 deg. N., but has not proven a profitable commercial
venture.

[3] Quoted in "Watts's Dict.," II, 456.

[4] Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, 1902.

[5] Throughout this paper the writer uses this word in preference to
"fertilizing" even when speaking of so-called "commercial fertilizers."

[6] Farmers' Bulletin 114, United States Department of Agriculture.

[7] Conn. Exp. Sta. Rep. 1897, Part II.

[8] Ag. Bull. Fed. Malay States, February, 1903.

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