The Cocoa-nut Tree.



WOULD our readers like a description of

the cocoa-nut tree? We have never seen

the tree, as it grows in a warmer climate

than we have ever visited; but we can give

such description of it as we have received

from others. Webster defines it thus: "A

palm tree producing the cocoa-nut. It grows

in nearly all tropical countries, attaining a

height of sixty or eighty feet. The trunk is

without branches, and has a tuft of leaves at

the top, each being fifteen or twenty feet in

length, and at the base of these the nuts

hang in clusters." Its leaves are of a dark

green color. It blossoms every six weeks,

and yields about one hundred nuts each

year.

This cocoa-nut tree, or palm tree, is one

of the most useful trees that grow. The

wood is used for building purposes and for

fuel. A recent writer says: "The leaves are

used for covering houses, and for carpets.

From a part of the leaf are made mats, baskets,

and brooms; from another part, a kind

of parchment, which serves in the place of

paper. The long, tough leaf-stalks make the

oars with which they row their boats. From

the husk of the ripe nuts are made ropes,

nets, thread, and twine. The hard shell can

be made into a ladle or cup." The shell is

also used in many places for hanging baskets.

The kernel is not only pleasant to the

taste, but is nutritious. The milk contained

in the nut is used by many in making bread,

cake, and gems, and gives them an excellent

flavor. A sap is drawn from the stalk of the

blossoms, from which sugar is made.