_Coconuts._—On the sandy shores, where no other fruit will grow, the coconut flourishes. As a rule the nuts are not so large as those of the Pacific Islands; but I have seen some of good size on the north shore of the Island of Roatan. The low, sandy cayos and the equally low shores of Manabique are admirably suited for coconut-walks. In one place on the Hondureñan coast a large factory was established at great cost, but for some reason not known to the writer it has been abandoned; and now, nowhere on the northern coast of Guatemala is any organized attempt to prepare either the oil or fibre (coir or cobre), and the nuts are shipped to the United States or to England. Prolific bearers, these palms require no care after they come into bearing in the fourth year; and as they bear heavily by the seventh year, a young walk soon becomes a source of profit. Usually a tree produces a flower-spathe every month; so there are generally on a tree nuts in all stages. On a single spadix I have counted five thousand nine hundred and fifty staminate or male blossoms, and fifty-two pistillate or female. Of the latter not more than thirty, and usually only twenty, develop into nuts; but a young tree in a good soil will probably bear three hundred and sixty nuts per annum, worth $9. In a walk, however, it is a good tree that is worth $3 per annum. The trade in green nuts is of course limited; but they usually sell at the rate of two cents apiece. No more delicious drink is found in the tropical fruits than the rich milk of the nut when so green that the shell is easily cut with a knife. When fully ripe, the nuts may be piled in a damp place and left to germinate. The milk disappears, and its place is occupied by a porous mass completely filling the cavity and of the consistency of sponge-cake, quite edible withal. As the shoot pushes through the eye and breaks through the thick husk, the innocent-looking sponge seems to absorb the meat of the coconut; when this is finished, the plant has, as it were, hatched itself from the old shell, and is ready to continue life on its own basis. The coconut presents a good illustration of the development of pinnate or feather leaves from palmate (or leaves shaped like a fan),—all the early leaves of this palm being of the latter class, while the noble leaves of the mature palm are long pinnate. [Illustration: Growth of a Young Coconut.] If the trees are planted about sixty to the acre in ordinary situations, such a plantation should not cost, including the land, more than forty dollars until the trees bear; and in eight years the planter may expect a crop of at least eight thousand nuts annually,—which should net him about two hundred dollars. It is a great mistake to plant the nut on the surface of the ground, as it is liable to be overturned by the winds, or too thick, as it then grows tall and spindly, and bears poorly.