rogress has been
made in this species of culture.

In 1832 several Europeans settled at Batticaloa, expressly for the
purpose of cultivating this palm to a large extent. They planted
cotton bushes between the young trees, which were found to ripen well,
and nurse and shade them.

There are now an immense number of coco-nut topes, or walks, on the
coasts of the island, and about 20,000 acres of land are under
cultivation with this tree.

The value of this product to Ceylon, may be estimated by the following
return of its exports in 1847, besides the local consumption:--

L
Declared value of nuts 5,485
Ditto of Coir 10,318
Kernels, or Copperah 6,503
Shells 210
Oil 19,142
Arrack 11,657
-------
Total L53,315

The annually increasing consumption of the nuts holds out a great
inducement to the native proprietors to reclaim all their hitherto
unproductive land. The fruit commands a high price in the island,
(ranging from 3/4d. to 3d. per nut), owing to the constant demand for it
as an article of food, by both Singhalese and Malabars; there is not
so much, therefore, now converted into copperah for oil making. In the
maritime provinces of the island, it has been estimated that the
quantity of nuts used in each family, say of five persons, amounts to
100 nuts per month, or 1,000 per annum. It needs only a reduction in
the cost of transit, to extend the consumption in the interior of the
island to an almost unlimited extent.

In 1842, Ceylon exported but 550 nuts, while in 1847 she shipped off
to other quarters three millions and a half of nuts, valued at L5,500.
The average value of the nuts exported may be set down at L7,000.

In Cochin China the cultivation of the coco-nut tree is much attended
to, and they export a large quantity of oil. At Malacca and Pinang it
shares attention with the more profitable spices. Since the palm has
been acclimatised in Bourbon, about 20,000 kilogrammes of oil have
been produced annually. About 8,000 piculs of oil are exported
annually from Java.

A correspondent, under date December, 1849, has furnished me with the
following particulars of coco-nut planting in Jaffna, the northern
district of Ceylon, in which the culture has only recently been
carried on; the facts and figures are interesting:--