produce of the plantation of 100
orlongs. The price of coco-nut oil has been so high in the London
market as L35 per tun, or about an average of ten dollars per picul.
It is said that English casks have not been found tight enough for
the conveyance of this oil to Europe, but if the article is really
in great demand, a method will no doubt be discovered to obviate
this inconvenience.

So long, however, as the cultivator can obtain a dollar and a half,
or even one dollar for 100 nuts, he will not find it profitable to
make oil, unless its price greatly rises.

Soap is manufactured at Pondicherry from this oil, but it is not
seemingly in repute; the attempt has not been made in Pinang with a
view to a market.

There is scarcely any coir rope manufactured at this island, so that
the profit which might (were labor cheaper) arise from this
application of the coco-nut fibre, is lost. The shell makes good
charcoal; the leaves are scarcely put to any purpose, the nipah or
attap being a superior material for thatching.

The coco-nut tree is extremely apt to be struck by lightning, and in
such cases it is generally destroyed. It is a dangerous tree,
therefore, to have close to a house. If the trees are widely
planted, coffee may be cultivated under their shade. It is generally
believed that the extracting of toddy from this tree hastens its
decline. The Nicobar and Lancavi Islands used partly to supply the
Pinang market with this indispensable article; but their
depopulation has greatly reduced the quantity.

On the whole it may be said that there is no cultivation which
insures the return of produce with so much certainty as that of the
coco-nut tree; and as Rangoon, the Tenasserim coast, and Singapore
will, probably, always remain good markets for the raw nut, there
appears to be every chance of the value of the produce affording
ample remuneration to the planter.

_Coco-nut beetle._--The chief natural enemy of this tree is a
destructive species of elephant-beetle (_Oryctes Rhinoceros_), which
begins by nibbling the leaves into the shape of a fan; it then
perforates the central pithy fibre, so that the leaf snaps off; and
lastly, it descends into the folds of the upper shoot, where it bores
itself a nest, and if not speedily extracted or killed, will soon
destroy the tree. At Singapore, on account