The nuts (to the number of 1-3) arrive at maturity in two months after flowering, that is to say in October, and then fall to the ground ; they are also beaten from the trees by long poles, but this is only occasionally done, as it seriously injures future fruit-buds, and affects the yield of the tree for another year. The chestnut is pruned and trimmed every three years ; this, while helping the tree to bear more abundantly, produces wood for fuel and other purposes, and small twigs and branches which are used for drying the nuts. After the nuts are gathered, they are deposited in huts, in the upper part of which deep trays are constructed, whereon the nuts are placed to the depth of 6 in. ; in these huts, slow fires of green wood are kept up, until the nuts become hard and dry. They are then carried to a mill, where they are ground into flour, in the same manner as corn or wheat. From this flour, many preparations are made, such as " polenta," and various kinds of cakes, fritters, and even a heavy kind of bread.
There are many varieties of the chestnut, some of the best and largest not being adapted to the English climate ; the most suitable are the Devonshire, the Prolific, and the Downton, the last remarkable for its short-spined husk. Chestnuts, after being well-dried in the sun, may be stored with dry sand in casks. In France, Spain, N. Italy, and Corsica, they form a most impor tant article of food, and serve in a great measure as substitutes for potatoes and bread. The approximate export of these nuts from Spain in 1878 was 5,789,000 kilo. Italy, in 1874. had 1,224,711 acres under chestnuts, the produce of which was 11,351,282 cwt. The consumption in France is said to be 6 million bush. annually. Our imports have never reached 70,000 bush. ; in 1870, they were 31,767 bush., about half from France, and the remainder from Spain and Portugal. (See Timber—Chestnut.) The horse-chestnut (zEsculus Ilippocustanum) affords a nut abounding in farinaceous matter, and though too bitter for human food, serves for feeding domestic animals. It yields a large proportion of starch (see Starch—Horse-chestnut), and a small quantity of oil (see Oils—Horse-chestnut).
The kidney-shaped kernel of the Tahiti chestnut (Inocarpus eduliv) is roasted and eaten in the Pacific Islands, New Guinea, and the Moluccas, and forms a staple food in some districts. It is sweetish when boiled, or roasted in ashes, but is harder, and less pleasant and farinaceous, than the common chestnut.
The large seeds of the Moreton Bay chestnut (Castanospermum australe), a native of Queensland, are eaten by the Australian natives, but are hard, astringent, and little better than acorns.
fruit of the coco-nut palm (Cocos nucifera) is too well known to need descrip tion. The tree flourishes with equal vigour on the coasts of the E. Indies, throughout the islands of the tropical Pacific, and in the W. Indies and tropical America. Its importance readers it an object of especially careful cultivation in many regions. On both the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India, it grows in vast numbers ; and Ceylon, which is peculiarly favourable to it, is estimated to maintain some 20 million trees. Many parts of the coast of Brazil teem with these
palms ; and in the W. Indies, great numbers are met with. The tree also occurs in considerable abundance on the coasts of tropical E. and W. Africa. But it seems most at home in the Pacific Islands. It is now attracting much attention from the colonists in Australia, where it is not yet established to any great extent.
Some 30 varieties of coco-nut are distinguished by the natives of the districts producing them, but many of these distinctions are obviously groundless. In preparing plantations, the nuts for sprouting are chosen fully ripe, with large eyes, and gathered from trees past middle age, and from clusters numbering few fruits. They should be gathered without injury, and neither be allowed to fall to the ground, nor to dry on the tree. They are carefully kept for not less than a month before planting, and are then set in an elevated plot, where water will not stagnate, and which is somewhat exposed to the influence of the sun. The planting may take place in January-April, also in August, pro vided the rains are not heavy. The are dug 2 ft. deep, and the nuts are planted on their sides,1 ft. apart at least, and leaving 2 in. unburied, some ashes, alone or mixed with salt, being put into the trenches. The beds are kept duly moist, but never made wet. In ordinary cases, the young shoots are transplanted in the 2nd-6th month after their first appearance ; but in low-lying situations, it is preferable to wait till the 12th month. In low, damp spots, the transplanting may be done during the hot season; in salt-marahes, and on hill-sides, during the monsoon. It may be gene rally said that all sandy soils are suitable. Sunlight and sea-breezes are most beneficial.
Coco-nuts growing in mangrove soil on the aide of creeks, and more or less saturated with salt, have their milk brackish, and the sap is saline also. These trees do not suffer from the attacks of the rhinoceros beetle, and are found to bear much sooner than those planted on a sandy soil. As an illustration of this, while trees planted at Penang 30 years ago, ou sandy soil, have not yet borne fruit—although they are fine-looking trees—others in the same plantation, only 10 years old, but on low ground, where the sea tide comes up daily, washes their roots, and runs off again, are in full bearing, giving 50-100 nuts annually, and the kernel is ae thick as that of nuts grown on sandy soil, and produces as much oil. The chief requisite with regard to a plantation in such a situation, is attention to the drainage. Longitudinal drains should be cut between the rows of trees, and cross ones at greater intervals. These drains must be kept clear, eo as to allow the salt water to flow in and out freely. The tide is found to deposit amongst the trees a very fertilizing matter. If the drains are not attended to, and the water stagnates, the trees get dwarfed, and become thin towards the top, thereby preventing them from having a large crown.