FROM THE BOOKSHELF: a classic coconut text chosen and described by Hugh Harries

LE COCOTIER CULTURE, INDUSTRIE ET COMMERCE DANS LES PRINCIPAUX PAYS DE PRODUCTION Coprah, huile, fibre de coco et dérivés divers

THE COCONUT CULTIVATION, INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE IN THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES OF PRODUCTION Copra, oil, coir and other derivatives E. PRUDHOMME The author, Em. Prudhom me, was an agronomist and Director of Agriculture in Madagascar. The book was published in Paris by Augustin Challamel in 1906. It was written in three parts. The first part, on coconut culture, has nine chapters; general description & utilisation, varieties, climate & soil, pests & diseases, propagation, soil preparation, planting, fertilizer and growth & harvesting. The second part, on coconut products, has seven chapters; copra, oil, poonac, dessicated coconut, coir fibre, jaggery & arrack and coconut butter (margerine). The third part, on commercial importance, has two chapters; world-wide regions of production and trade data. There are 491 pages, between A4 and A5 size, with 83 figures. Some of the figures are line drawings but most are excellent black & white photographs, taken by Prudhom me, in Madagascar. There are also numerous unnumbered tables of data and graphs. There is no list of bibliographical references although many authorities are quoted in the text, with occasional footnotes. A major drawback is the lack of an index and a minor drawback is the absence, now partly remedied, of a translation from the original French into English. The following extract from the chapter on coconut varieties (pp. 20-34) was translated by Reginald Child. Translations of other chapters can be provided on request. Contact Hugh Harries for further information. [Missing line drawings (Figs 12-16) will be rescanned]

Part 1 Coconut Culture Chapter II Brief Indications on Coconut Varieties

2

VARIETIES UNDER OBSERVATION AT TAMATAVE

(a)

Species coming from Mirigama (Ceylon)

1. Siam Coconut (Plate 11 No. 1) Large size fruit, comprising a thick layer of coir uniformly distributed around the surface of the true nut, which is very large and almost spherical in shape or a little elongated.

2. The coconuts represented in 2, 3, 5 & 6 (of plate 11) were sent from Ceylon under the names Good Round Coconut, Good Large Selected Coconut, Good Large coconut and Good Small Com mercial Coconut. These names are applied to commercial grades and do not indicate true varieties. They are characterized by bulky nuts more or less spherical and all covered with a good layer of coir, especially important for specimens 2 and 3, but less developed than in the Siam Coconut. It is the same with nut No 8 (Large Round Shaped Coconut) which closely resembles No. 3.

. Plate 11 Coconut varieties

3. Good Long Shaped Coconut (No. 4). Although this title does not seem to indicate a well defined species, we believe it necessary to class it separately because of the very elongated shape of the nut and of the entire fruit which comprises a very thick layer of fibre, especially in the region of attachment of the stalk.

4. We find on the contrary in the Maldive Coconut (No 7) or coconut of the Maldive Islands, a variety which appears quite distinct. It is characterized by the globular shape of the fruit, which contains a large nut, regularly spherical, enclosed in a relatively thin fibrous husk. It is evident that this variety has no great value for coir production, but it shows that the size of nuts is far from being proportional to the dimensions of the entire fruits. A coconut palm with small fruits may well furnish, other things being equal, as much copra or oil as a variety with very large fruits such as the Siam Coconut. 5. Nawasi Coconut (No.9) A variety with, in general form, great analogies with the preceding example. It is to be noted, however, that the coir is a little thicker, and that in general the true nut is [in general] of smaller diameter than the Maldive coconut. According to Ferguson, the husk of the “Nawasi Coconuts”" when incompletely ripe is edible and has, it seems, a taste analogous to that of the palm cabbage furnished by the terminal bud of the coconut palm. 6. Long Yellow Taembili Coconut According to Ferguson the word Taembili serves to designate, in Sinhalese, the varieties known in English under the name of King Coconut. The Long Yellow Taembili Coconut (No 10) is of small size and of a reddish-yellow colour. It assumes roughly the shape of two more or less elongated cones (cônes de révolution) joined at their bases. The Long Yellow Taembili has an elongated nut and yields little coir. 7. Small Yellow Taembili Coconut (No. 11) Colour like the preceding, nut more round in shape. Fibrous envelope very little developed except around the stalk. 8. Lastly we refer to the “Small Jaffna Coconut”, a variety with very small nuts not shown on the plate on page 25. This species is renowned for its precocity. It is said that, under good conditions, it can start to bear two and a half to three years after planting, when the trunk of the palm begins to form. (b)

Varieties coming from Noumea (New Caledonia) The Nouméa coconut (No 12) on which we have to date, in Madagascar, no precise information, seems to be of average size. It represents more or less exactly, judging from the specimens received at Tamatave, what Ceylon planters describe as “Good Large Coconut”. The nut is a little elongated, almost spherical. The coir husk is of average thickness.

(c)

Varieties coming from the Seychelles Seychelles Coconuts (No 13) are well regarded in Mauritius, Bourbon (Réunion) and Madagascar. They are reputed to be very rich in oil. It is certain that there exist in this colony several varieties of the coconut palm, but the name “Seychelles Coconut” seems specially reserved for a species of elongated shape (No 13) of which the nut, of small size, is situated quite near the end of the fruit. The Seychelles Coconuts are thus covered at the stalk end, by a very thick coat of coir, reaching possibly six or eight times the thickness of the fibrous envelope at the sides of the nut.

(d)

Varieties coming from Pondicherry There are four of these sent to Madagascar under the names of “Pondichéry Yellow”, “Pondichéry red”, “Pondichéry green” and “Pondichéry dwarf” (Nos. 14, 15, 16, 18) The descriptions of the varieties coming from the Coramandel Coast (Brahmin Coconut) and from Canara, given above according to Geo. R. Porter, is exactly applicable to the red and green varieties. The fruits of Pondicherry Yellow and of the Dwarf variety (term applicable to the tree and not to the fruit) are of smaller size than the two previous sorts, but contain fair-sized nuts, and even larger than the former in the case of the dwarf variety.

(e)

Varieties from Mayotte and from Zanzibar (Mayotte, Comorro Is) Nuts received at Madagascar without any description. Fruits and nuts (properly so called) of large size, kernels ovoid, coir thick.

3

VARIETIES OF THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF MADAGASCAR

The introduction of the coconut palm to the North-West coast of Madagascar goes back to a fairly remote time; thus the varieties existing in the region are already numerous. They require, in order to be completely described and well differentiated from each other, a study on the spot which it has not so far been possible to make; here I shall simply indicate [select] the best known different forms met with at the end of 1903, at Nosy-Bé in the Sambirano and in the peninsula of Anorontsagana, during my last stay on the west side of the island. 1.

White coconut (Coco blanc) Variety of infrequent occurrence of which I have only found some examples at Anorontsangana, at Nosy-Bé and on the banks of the river Sambirano. Smooth epidermis of yellow white colour at maturity. Fruit measuring 25cm in length and 17 to 20cm at the middle. Somewhat elongated in shape, three sides prominent, especially at the end opposite the stalk, but still observable at the base of the fruit. Large nut, almost spherical, with thick shell up to a half centimeter. Fibrous husk measuring from four to seven centimetres thick, kernel exceeding, when fresh but completely ripe, 11m m thickness. Liquid content scanty and little esteemed. Petiole of pale colour slightly tinged with yellow.

This variety seems valuable for copra production; the few specimens at Anorontsangara seem very vigorous and fruitful. I counted on one of them about 250 nuts at least half of which had reached their full size.

There exist, in the Comoro Archipelago, two species of white coconut termed by the inhabitants of those islands, "M'nazy irassi (Comorese), Mounazi mourassi (Anjouese), and M'nazy Kitsoulé (Swahili), that is to say Sultan Coconut palm. One of these varieties is furnished by very tall palms and the other by palms much less developed. The small variety (the term applies to the height of the tree) is much appreciated as a drinking coconut, because of the quality and quantity of the liquid inside; the other, on the contrary gives little water but furnishes a very good copra. These details due to Prince Saidini, seem to indicate that the white coconut of the North-West should be the Irassi variety of the Comoros. This hypothesis is very plausible, since it is almost certain that the greater part of the coconut palms existing in this region come from the Comoro Islands. [Fig. 12 White coconut]

2.

Round green coconut (Coco vert rond) Fruit of beautiful green colour, partly covered with greyish spots, almost spherical and measuring approximately 17cm long and 15-16cm in transverse diameter at the middle. Three sides projecting sufficient to be visible from the side opposite the stalk, and showing at their juncture, a characteristic small protuberance.

[Fig 13 Round green coconut] Nuts as large as those of white coconut, reaching 11cm in diameter but covered with a fibrous envelope, much less developed varying from two to five centimetres in thickness. Albumen about 11-12m m thick when fresh, shell thin, liquid inside not very abundant (about 1½ ordinary glasses). Species seemingly bearing very well in the Sambirano.

3.

Green coconut elongated at sides Variety characterised by its readily observed three sides the whole length of the fruit and by its green colour. The sides, when they meet at the side opposite the stalk form a marked depression. Smooth fruit, elongated in shape, 25cm long to 17-19cm in width. Nut also elongated measuring 10 to 12cm long, well removed from the stalk as with the Seychelles variety. Kernel reaching 11 to 12m m in thickness. Nut water of ordinary quality and modest volume (a glass per nut). Nut larger than the Seychelles coconut. Coir very thick on the bottom (8cm), but little developed on the sides (2-4cm thick).

4.

Green coconut with large nut Fruit bright green, somewhat resembling the preceding in shape, but not so long and more expanded in the middle. Sides less well-defined, but still apparent. Length 20-21cm. Transverse middle diameter 18-19cm. Characteristic nut, flattened in the direction of the length of the fruit, very large reaching 12½ cm in transverse diameter to 10cm in length. Coir well developed, chiefly towards the base. Kernel 12m m thick in the fresh state. Water modest in amount glass and a half) [Fig 14 Green coconut elongated at sides] [Fig 15 Green coconut with very large nut]

5

Green coconut with very large spherical fruit [nut] Green fruit still less elongated than the preceding (length: 20cm), transverse diameter: 18-19cm) Species particularly characterised by its almost spherical and very voluminous nut, reaching 12cm in diameter. Nut water is very abundant and of agreeable taste (3 glasses per nut), but the kernel does not exceed 7m m in thickness. Thick shell (3-4m m).

6.

Yellow-green coconut Voluminous fruit, resembling the green coconut with large nuts. Characteristic coppery-green colour. Length: 23cm; transverse diameter: 18cm. Sides observable, becoming very prominent at the end opposite the stalk. They form, at this point, three sorts of peak which have between them a deepish depression, which is also found at the point of attachment of the stalk. Flattened nut (12cm in transverse diameter and 9½-10cm in height). Nut water modest in volume. Kernel very thick (12-13m m).

7.

Pointed green coconut This variety, found at Nosy-Bé, is characterised by its very elongated shape, showing a sort of point on the side opposite the stalk. Three prominent sides, of equal development forming a distinct flat surface round the peduncle, and giving the fruit almost the form of a triangular pyramid (length: 25cm, breadth 14cm). Characteristic nut with prominent sides of regular shape and very pointed, reaching 13cm long with 8-10cm in width. Fibrous envelope from 3 to 6½cm thick. Nut water scanty (less than half a glass). Kernel reaching 12m m in thickness. [Fig 16. Pointed green coconut]