The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-12-21

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spear The cocoanut is forced down
with both hands until the steel point
has penetrated deep between the husk
and the nut, when, with a strong twist
the entire husk is forced off i'm one
piece.
The men work in gangs of threes.
One man does the husking, a second
man takes the husked nuts and, with
sharp cleaver, splits them into
halves and then quarters them, and
the third man, with a sharp pointed in
stTument somewhat like a bent file,
digs out the meat. The sped of the
work can be somewhat appreciated
when it is understood that these men
handle no less than 1900 nuts a day.
Each man has to keep up with the
man before him. The man who digs
out the meat has time enough to
gather up the extracted cocoanut,
place it in a basket and carry it TO
the kiln, where it is died without
coming into contact with the smoke IL
all One requirement of first-Class
copra is that it shall be sundried. SO
after the meat has been dried for
twelve hours in the kiln, it is taken
out and exposed to the rays of the sun
for two days. when it is ready for mar
ket. The object of the entire process
is to dry the meat without cooking the
oil.
The copra thus produced is as white
as the original cocoanut meat, whereas
the native cured copra being dried
over an open fire, is almost black. The
Kindred copra is much the better and
brings a higher price on the market,
being known as F. NJ. s., or fair mar,
ketable sun-dried. It is worth approx.
mately at present cents pound, but
it is expected that the price will go
up before great while, as copra is he
ing used more all the time for vari-
Gus purposes, such as soap making and
for the manufacture of cooking oils
and butter substitutes. The principal
market is in Europe, though a great
deal is now used in the United
States.
Manager Cookson states that the
Chinese who work on the cocoanut
plantations are brought up on them
and know little or nothing else. They
get to be expert at their work and can
handle the nuts at an astonishing
rate.
Not all Of the nuts produced will be
turned into copra, as there is brisk
demand for the nuts themselves. The
method of getting them to the factory
is an interesting one. They are fas-
tened in strings of three or four thou
sand to a line laid in the wa'er. A
Chinese then takes the end of the line
and tows them to market. Since this
method was adopted, the cost of trans
portation has been materially de-
creased, with corresponding proper
ton of profit to the plantation.
The cocoanuts produced in the Ma
lay Peninsula produce a greater pro
portion of copra than those raised
elsewhere. 1t takes only 5000 nuts TO
make ton of copra there, whereas in
the Philippines $500 are required, in
Ceylon 1900, in Java 1900 and in Sa-
moa 1000.
Cocoanuts are planted fifty trees to
the acre. II is estimated, in the pros
pectus, that the first year of bearing a
tree win produce ten nuts, the second
year thirty nuts, the third year forty
nuts, the fourth year fifty, and the
fifth and subsequent years fifty nuts.
Mr.. Cookson, however, believes this
estimate will be considerably exceed
ed, as the trees on the plantation he
has been managing produce, after
their fifth year of bearing an average
of seventy nuts per year.
Cocoanut trees are said to come into
bearing in the Malay Peninsula
quicker than anywhere else in the