The Most Useful Tree

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 46, 14 November 1907, Page 19

The Most Useful Tree

Probably the most useful tree in the world is the. cocoanut palm, every portion of which is put to good use. The trunk is used for building houses, making furniture and farm' implements and countless other articles; hollowed out it makes a canoe. Its leaves are used for thatching, the leaf stalks- for paddles and fishing lines. T ihe blossom in bud makes preserves and pickles besides serving as a staple vegetable. Promthe pith of the trunk is derived a" kind of sago, and from ifie flowers, sugar, vinegar, and toddy, which, after fermentation, becomes arrack. The ripe cocoanut is a valuable article of diet. The white kernel produces a delicious cream, a good substitute for cow's milk, while the oil is used as a lubricant Wsoap and candle making, it is also applied to counteract the stings of scorpions The refuse of the oil, or oil cake, if valuable as food for animals and poultry, and as manure for the soil. .From the shell drinking cups, spoons, lt?T- S ' rt bbl S es ' . nr f wood > and " c ' veil tooth powder are" obtained. Hie husk supplies fibre for mattresses and tht'SJ^f £ n » T ts > ropes.-caMes, nets, and even the harness for bullocks. The web sustaining the footstalks is made into strainers and torches. The tree acts as a conductor i n protecting houses from ligjht-