off, leaving horizontal scars, which ornament the trunk."

"It must be a beautiful tree, with its crown of feather-like leaves!"

"The flower-buds grow from the axils of the leaves. The buds, which grow in clusters, are enclosed in a thick, tough calyx called a spathe.

"The spathe, which soon

falls off, opens from the under side, as represented in the picture.

"Each little bud in the cluster opens into a threeparted, milk-white blossom, which turns yellow after a

few days. The blossoms near the base of the cluster containing pistils become cocoanuts. The others wither away.

"During rainy seasons the tree continues to blossom once in six weeks. Each cluster ripens from five to fifteen nuts, so that in favorable seasons from eighty to one hundred nuts may be gathered from a single tree.

"The ovoid nut is covered with a thick, fibrous husk which protects the seed. The inner shell is very hard.

"The shell is lined with a thick white meat,

which is the kernel of the nut. The kernel is sweet and very oily when ripe.

"The green nut contains from one to two pints of rich liquid, which is nearly all absorbed by the kernel while ripening. As the nut ripens, the liquid remaining becomes tasteless.

"What are those three black scars at the apex? One I can pierce with a pin; the others are very hard, so hard that I cannot pierce them.

"The one that can be pierced with a pin contains the germ which extends throughout the kernel. As the germ grows, the stem comes through the scar, and the shell splits.

"In planting, great care is taken to place the end of the nut containing the scars uppermost. Sometimes the seed does not begin to grow for six months or even a year after planting; then again it is seen sprouting while lying under the tree, with its husk still green.

"The tree grows very slowly during the first two years. It does not bear fruit until it is seven or eight years old, but continues to bear until it is seventy or more years of age.

"The South Sea Islanders claim that the cocoapalm has a hundred uses.

"After the tree ceases to bear fruit, the wood becomes very hard. hard. It is then cut down, to be

used for building ships or huts; for making furniture or farming utensils.

"The wood is reddish in color, beautifully marked with dark lines. It is imported into England under the name of porcupine wood.

"When fresh, the leaves are cooked and eaten as cabbage. The dry leaves are plaited together to form a covering for the roofs and sides of houses. The leaves are used also for fans, hats, and writing paper.

"Paddles and arrows are made of the midribs of the leaves. The lateral ribs are used in making brooms; the finest ones, for making combs.

"The fibres of the husks being stripped off and soaked several months in water, so that they may be easily separated, are twisted into ropes or woven into mats.

"The rope, which is very strong and light, floats on the water, but does not rot when wet. It is stronger and more elastic than hemp rope.

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Cups, goblets, plates, and ladles are made of the shell, some of which are beautifully carved.

"The kernel or albumen is used for food. The oil obtained from the albumen is very valuable. It is used in cooking and for fuel. Soap, which makes an excellent lather in sea water, is made from the oil.

"From the flower-buds a delicious drink, known as toddy, is obtained. If allowed to sour or ferment, the toddy becomes palm-wine or vinegar.

"Sugar is made from the toddy by boiling it.

"Do you wonder that the South Sea Islanders prize the cocoa-palm so highly?"

Write in good order all you have learned about the cocoa-palm.

Compare the cocoa-palm tree with the banana-tree.

Is it the palm, the cocoa-palm,

On the Indian Sea, by the isles of balm?
Or is it a ship in the breezeless calm?

A ship whose keel is of palm beneath,
Whose ribs of palm have a palm-bark sheath,
And a rudder of palm it steereth with.

Branches of palm are its spars and rails,
Fibres of palm are its woven sails,
And the rope is of palm that idly trails!

What does the good ship bear so well?
The cocoanut with its stony shell,
And the milky sap of its inner cell.

What are its jars, so smooth and fine,
But hollowed nuts filled with oil and wine,
And the cabbage that ripens under the line?

Who smokes his nargileh, cool and calm?
The master whose cunning and skill could charm
Cargo and ship from the bounteous palm.

In the cabin he sits, on a palm-mat soft;
From a beaker of palm his drink is quaffed;
And a palm-thatch shields from the sun aloft!

His dress is woven of palmy strands,

And he holds a palm-leaf scroll in his hands,
Traced with the prophet's wise commands!

The turban folded about his head

Was daintily wrought of the palm-leaf braid, And the fan that cools him of palm was made.