The Savannah morning news., 1903-04-19

mainder coming to the United States
and Chill, which country absorbs four
or five hundred tons a year. There
are two concerns in San Francisco
which utilize the copra brought here.
In some years markets east of here
are short of cocoanut oil, otherwise
known as palmi oil, and then there is
an added sale for the California pro-
duct. But, generally speaking, the
trade is local and limited. Eastern
makers of fancy soaps advertise
lavishly in the magazines and period
icals current as well on this as on the
other side of the Rock Mountains, and
toilet brands of transmontane origin
are widely sold on the Pacific Coast,
TO the curtailment of the home in
dustry.
Referring to the trade in copra at
large, doubles it would be greater II
the general supply were larger. AL
though the cocoanut palm grows in
widely scattered island regions of the
Pacific, and to some extent elsewhere,
it thrives only under conditions which
seriously restrict the total area of it's
successful cultivation. Essentially
and exclusively it is a tropical tree,
and, moreover, it is said with truth
that it will not thrive anywhere in
land beyond the sound of the surf.
There is no place whatever within the
boundaries of the United States where
it will live and give returns. Even
Mexico is too far north for it. Where
it is indigenous, as in Polynesia or the
Philippines, or where, as in the equa-
torial points of South America, it is
a successful intruder, practical care
and cultivation may vastly increase its
output. AT this time the demand is
far enough in excess of the supply to
Fo,. k,I1
lishment of new plantations in favor
able locations, such as are to be found
in the Island of Tahiti. 1t may be said,
also, that there is excellent promise in
the ultimate development of this nat
ural resource in our own insular en-
pire.
The cocoanut palm-Cocos nucifera-
the Encyclopaedia Britannica describes
as a very beautiful and lofty palm
tree, growing to hight of from so to
100 feet, with a cylindrical stem which
attains the thickness OF two feet. The
tree terminates in a crow of graceful
waving pinnate leaves" But in the
regions of their growth these trees are
something better than ornamental:
THE nuts supply no inconsiderable
portion of the food of the natives, and
the milky juice within them forms a
pleasant and refreshing drink. The
juice drawn from the unexpanded
flower spathes forms 'toddy, which
may be boiled down to sugar, or it is
allowed to ferment and is distilled,
when it yields a spirit which, in COM
mon with a like product from other
sources, is known as 'arrack.' The
trunk yields a timber known in Euro
pean commerce as porcupine wood,
which is used for building, furniture.
firewood, etc. The leaves are plated
into cajan fans and baskets, and are
used for matching the roofs of houses.
The shell of the nut is employed as a
water vessel, and the external husk
or rind yields the coir fibre, with which
are fabricated ropes. cordage,
brushes. etc. The cocoanut palm also |
furnishes very important articles of |
external commerce, of which the prin- |
cipal is cocoanut OIL"
In Tahiti and the islands of French |
Oceanica cocoanut trees begin to bear |
seven years after planting. They then |
live and flourish for from sixty to one |
hundred and fifty nuts annually, the |
fruitage being perennial. AS fast as |
the nuts are ripe they fall to the |
fround and are picked up daily. AS
they are gathered they are halved with
axes and left two days to dry in the
sun. This process shrivels and loosens
the meat from the shell, when it is
soooped out with knife and spread
out on the ground or on platforms to
complete drying. This takes three
days longer. The result is the com
mercial article known as copra. II is
then cut into smaller pieces, sacked.
and is ready for shipment. Natives
cultivators have some tricks of the
trade" at their command which are
sources of annoyance to buyers. In
the first place, the native will get his
nuts as green as he dares to because
that means increased weight. With
the same object in view he will wet
his copra with salt water. but this re-
veals itself in a discooration when
is easily detected, and reduces the
value of the goods. According to soil.
conditions of cultivation, and so on.
IL takes from 5000 40 1000 ripe nuts
to make a ton of copra. The trees are