The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-28
NO WASTE IN THE COCOANUT.
How the Various Parts of the Pro-
dnnt A 70 Utilized for Profit

NO WASTE IN THE COCOANUT.
How the Various Parts of the Pro
4 duct Are Utilized for Profit.
A Chinese proverb says that the CO.
coanut tree has as many properties as
there are days in the year. The fruit
of the tree is the only part imported
into California, and 1t is now put tc
many and widely different uses, not
one atom being thrown away One To-
cal importer receives about 100000 CO.
coanute month. Only a small portion
of them is kept for the green trade,
as it is called when the nut Is sold In
it's original state, the greater bulk
passing to the factory, where the husk
is removed and the inner nut is steam
ed to facilitate the removal of the
meat About thirty-tive boys and girls
are employed there in peeling off the
! thin brown skin. This is carefully pre-
served and sent to the oil and lead
works, where a substance resembling
lard and known as cocoanut butter is
extracted This is worked into all
sorts of toilet articles. The white,
meaty part of the nut, after being
washed, is thrown into different ma
/
! quality required, some grinding it al
most as fine as flour, Others cutting it
into strips half an inch wide. The
! next process Is the cooking, which Is
done in immense brass kettles continu-
ously revolving to insure an even ie-
| suit. Only the milk contained in the
heart of the nut is used in the cook
| ing, After the nut is sufficiently cook
ed--that is, when the moisture has
wholly evaporated the pulp is placed
in shallow iron pans and dried In dry
ing closets, and the 'dessiccated CO.
coanut" of commerce Is the result,
which enters into many different con-
fections.
That part, of the cocoanut whose
properties are not so wei known in
California is the outer covering or
husk The inner woody shell Of this
makes excellent fuel. IF you are in
itiated into the mysteries-or rather,
tricks-of the trade. you will Salso
know that 1t does duty as spice" How
spicy it really Is depends upon what Is
mixed with it. AT any rate it to good
a fuel to be thrown away But the
fibrous outer shell of the cocoanut was
until very recently, thrown into the
bay, to float off and finally disfgure
the surrounding beaches. There is
now factory on the Berkeley shore of
the bay which uses this despsed husk
in the manufacture of another useful
commercial commodity. 1t is the only
factory of it's kind in California, and
it assumes position of peculiar i'm
portance whenit Is remembered that it
is covering what was previously con-
sidered waste matter, which was hard
to get rid of and which bid far to be-
come a nuisance into an article of
great utility. Out of this husk a very
aromatic, perfectly sanitary and
springy material is being made to
serve as substitute in mattress making
for the unsanitary curled hair The
husk of a the cocoanut shell contains
a fibrous material which really makes
excellent furniture and mattress filing. |
1t is infinitely superior to shoddy This |
industry is only in its infancy on this
coast Twenty-Five per cent of the
husk is hair or fibre, the rest is dust;
but not even this dust is wasted, for
nurserymen have found that it makes
an excellent covering for winter flower
beds, The first process through which |
This is accomplished by machine re-
semblng rock crusher and sounding
very much like one when at work,
driven by a forty horse power engine.
This is called the picker. The husk
comes. out of it as dust and coarse
hair-like fibre, with here and there a
remnant of shell. This is picked over
by boys and thrown again into the
picker.
When ii comes out a second time a
portion of it is twisted into a rope by
a machine called the twister When
about hundred feet of this rope is
made it is tied up into a bundle and
hung in a steam box After being
steamed, these bundles are
dried in q room heated to 100 degrees.
While so treated the fibre is still kept
in the shape of rope.I 1t is by this
process that the fibre is curled and
gets it's springy quality. The twisted
fibre is then put through the picker
a third time, and when it is thrown
1ut it looks as LIGHT as down and eet
ties into the sweetest, most aromatic
heap imaginable, for it retains its
pleasant woody and spicy odor, which
alone ougt to make it an ideal mate
'ial for mattress filing independent of
is more important sanitary properties
The price of this cocoanut fibre ranges
rom two and one-half cents to fen
,ents a pound. 1t has lately been list
ID as an article of commerce, SO that if
$ now one of the established indus
ries of this coast-From the San
Francisco Chronicle.
GA . TT @ IA. !
Bears tho n The Kind You Have Always Bought i