The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1905-03-14
CALL cocoANUT A FRUIT,
So Denominatsd by the Agricultural
Observation-Disclosures An
nually Imported.

The mooted question whether the
cocoanut as oaiclaliy regarded as a
nut or a fruit" has been settled in
q report on cocoanuts recently made
by tine department OF agriculture. AL
though known as a nut, the depart
ment characterlzes 1t as "a tropical
fruit" The report says in part:
with the exception OF few hun
bred dollars worth grown annually in
Florida. no cocoanuts are produced in
continental United states. A tropical
fruit, grown almost exclusively on ISL
ands and in tropical countries border
ing upon the sea, there is little terri
tory in the United States proper adapt
ed to its cultivation. The large guam
titles of cocoanuts and their products
consumed in this country are practi-
cally all imported.
with the acquisition Of territory
after the close OF the Spanish
can war there came into the possess
sion of the United States number of
islands upon whieh cocosnut produc-
ton is a considerable economic factor.
In the Philippines it not only plays an
important part in the domestic econo-
my OF the people, but the expectation
of copra (dried meat of the cocoanut)
constitutes one of the largest items of
their export trade. returning to the
archipelago from $1,000 900 to $4,000
600 a year In the small island Of Tu-
tuila, of the Samoan group, copra Is
the chief article of export, upward OF
500 tons, being shipped out annually
In Porto Rico the area in cocoanuts in
1899, according to the census, was
SAL acres. From none of these pos
sessions, however. does the United
States now obtain any important part
OF its heavy imports Of cocoanuts and
their products.
These nuts and their products are
imported into the United States prin-
clpally in three forms, as cocoanuts in
the shell, as copra. and as cocoanut
oil. OF these by far the most impor-
tant, as measured by kNalue, is cocoa
nut oil, the deliverieS from custom
houses and warehouses; for cc1sump-
ton in the United States in the fiscal
year ended June so, 1903, havlno been
40,074,S00 pounds, valued at So 949,442.
These were the heaviest imports of
cocoanut oil ever made into the United
States, the previous high record hav-
ing ben in 1S94-1S95. when the quaint
ty delivered for consumption amount
ed to 31.722014 ponds, valued at ST.
S40,20S, The principal uses to which
this oil is put in the United States is
in blending with other oils in the
manufacture of soap. In confectionery,
medicinal preparations. food COM
pounds, for the preparation of textiles
and for other purposes
Next in Importance to cocoanut oil
are the imports Of cocoanuts in the
she'll. /ot which the deliveries for con-
sumption in the fiscal veqr 19O2-1903
amounted in value to $685. 2e. AS 70
the quantities Of nuts in the shell i'm
ported there is no Official record. but
a rough estimate based upon the total
v7lue Of the imports. and the AVERAGE
price of cocoenuts annually imported
into the United States ranges from 40
ooo.no0 TO 10000, 900. AS is well known.
these nuts orc consumed in the United
States chiefly in the raw state and in
the maDpfacture of confectionery, pre-
Dared foods etc "