Bonnie Beba, aged 8, of Seattle, Washington for her question:

How does the milk bet into a coconut?

A coconut grows little by little. Its mother is one of the moat beautiful of palm trees. Her tall, straight trunk reaches high above the ground. Her crown spreads out in shady branches. She is a native of warm tropical islands.

Our little coconut began as a bud, high in the frilly branches. There were fifty or sixty other buds growing along with him. Soon the little fellows looked like whiskery bumps, Their shells were still soft. And inside they were soft and mushy, like green, unripe walnuts.

Our little fellow grew and green in the sunny weather. His outside coat became a bundle of tough fibers. Inside the mush separating into solid nutmeat and milky syrup. As time went on, the nutmeat grew thicker and the milky stuff grew thinner,

Actually, the coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm. If all goes well it will one day be a tree. The meat and milk inside the shell are food for a new plant. But these delicious fruits are too good to leave alone. They are gathered for eating when they are green and half grown.

Most palm trees wear spikes near the top to protect their fruit from hungry invaders. Not so the coconut palm. A boy can climb the straight, smooth trunk and cut down the fruit.

With their topcoats, the coconuts are about twice as big as the nut inside. These coats are usually chopped away before the eating coconut gets to market, The tough fiber is used for making brushes, mats and ropes.

Our little coconut, of course, escaped going to market. He stayed on the tree to ripen. Through the sunny days, his nutmeat became thicker and tougher. The milk inside became pale and almost clear. One day he fell. He rolled down a slope into the sea. His thick overcoat and tough shell protected him from the salty water. He floated five hundred miles.

Then one day the tide washed him up on an island. He rolled along and stopped in a patch of sandy soil. For a time he fed upon the food and liquid inside hid shell. Then roots and stem pushed their way out of his tough shell. Anew coconut palm took root and began to grow.

In six years, our new coconut palm budded and grew coconuts of his own. He grew sixty coconuts every year, And he lived on his sunny isle and grew coconuts for eighty years,