Contribution to a natural and economical history of the coco-nut tree / by Henry Marshall.

  • Marshall, Henry, 1775-1851.
Date:
1836
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Contribution to a natural and economical history of the coco-nut tree / by Henry Marshall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    9/32 (page 9)
    of palm trees, more especially the coco-nut palm. In the Sing ha- lese language a coco-nut plantation is called poll watte, while the Eu- ropean inhabitants call it a toddy tope. The word tope is probably derived from the English word toft toftum, (Latin,) an enclosed piece of ground round a dwelling. A ludicrous mistake is said to have been made by the use of the Anglo-Indian name of a coco garden. In a letter sent to England by a missionary, it was stated that they preach- ed to the natives in topes of coco-nut trees. This expression was printed thus in one of the missionary Journals, they preached to the natives on tops of coco-nut trees. Serious accidents sometimes oc- cur by the falling of coco-nuts from the tree. From the reports of inquests which took place in the island of Ceylon during the year 1833, it appears that four persons were killed by the falling of coco- nuts. It is remarkable that the coco-nut tree has never been intro- duced into the Andaman islands, although it is very extensively cul- tivated in the Nicobar islands, which are within 30 leagues of the lit- tle Andaman. Soil.—The coco-nut tree grows luxuriantly in the alluvial or sandy soil, near to the margin of rivers, estuaries, and inlets of the sea. Koster observes, that the sandy soils of the Brazilian coast, in which the coco-nut tree seems to delight, would, if they were not cultivated with it, remain almost useless, but from the produce which this tree yields, they are rendered very valuable. The lands which are occu- pied with this plant alone yield a settled income to the owners with- out much labour. Coco-nut trees are evidently not injured by the sea air, for they are nowhere more luxuriant than in situations where the roots are frequently washed by sea water. This palm grows, however, at great distances from the coast—in Ceylon it is profitably cultivated in the centre of the island, or about 100 miles from the sea, and in the peninsula of India '200 miles from the sea. Propagation, Culture, and Produce.—The fruit of the coco-nut tree is admirably calculated for diffusion and self-propagation through the medium of rivers and the ocean. Although the nut and its kernel, like many other seeds, is perhaps heavier than water, the fibrous husk with which it is invested gives it sufficient buoyancy in water, by which means it is conveyed to the most distant coasts, even as far north sometimes as the coast of Norway. If by chance a coco-nut be carried by the sea to a favourable spot within the tropics, it ger- minates and grows, bearing and disseminating many nuts, some of which by germinating soon form a palm grove, in which birds find a resting-place. In this manner it is obvious a coral rock may, by means of sea-weed, in time be converted into an island, and eventually become inhabited with numerous species of the animal creation. The evidence in favour of this mode of the dissemination of prolific coco- nuts is so strong that I think the result cannot be doubted. I am well aware, however, that the germinating power of many seeds which are conveyed by the sea is usually lost before they reach a shore. The double coco-nut (Lodoicea Sechellarum,J for example, has not so far as I know, been propagated through the medium of the sea' although the nuts are frequently thrown upon the coasts of tropica!