240 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
butter’? made from cacao (Theobroma cacao), the source of chocolate, which is also 
an important commercial product.“ The process of manufacture of coconut butter 
has been kept secret. The main difficulties to overcome were the tendency to ran- 
cidity of the fat and its liquid consistency. The credit for carrying on experiments 
which finally led to success is due to the firm of Rocca, Tassy & de Roux, of Mar- 
seille, who have also erected a plant in Hamburg. Magnan Freres have more 
recently succeeded in making a satisfactory butter by independent experiments, and 
some German houses are now doing the same thing. 
“The effort to extract an edible grease from an oil produced upon so vast a scale 
and formerly available only for the manufacture of soap gave promise of valuable 
returns if successful; and that this promise was not délusive may be judged from the 
circumstance that the factory of Rocca, Tassy & de Roux, which produced 25 tons 
of butter per month in 1900, now (1902) turns out 600 tons per month. * * * The 
butter is not at all a by-product of the manipulation of the oil, as in the factory of 
Messrs. Rocca, Tassy & de Roux, 7,200 tons of butter are obtained from 8,000 tons of 
oil per annum in a year of maximum results. The butter is styled ‘vegetaline’ and 
‘cocoaline,’ the greater demand being for the former. The first named melts at 
26° C. and the latter at 31° C., being by that fact better suited for warm climates. 
* * * The activity of the manufacturers in trying to establish their private marks 
and in advertising their product as one of pure copra oil proves that the main object is 
to serve the constantly increasing public demand for comestible vegetable greases. ’’ } 
In the United States the principal manufacturers of food products from coconut 
oil are the India Refining Company, of Philadelphia. They have a process by which 
the rancidity of the oil is eliminated, so that it is sweet, neutral, and adapted for fam- 
ily use and for manufacturing purposes by bakers, confectioners, and perfumers, 
One brand, called ‘‘kokoreka,”’ consists of the stearin of the coconut oil, having 
a melting point of about 27.3° C. This is used by manufacturing confectioners in 
combination with or in place of cacao butter. A lighter brand, called ‘*ko-nut,’”’ 
is used for baking and domestic purposes in place of butter and lard. It has a 
melting point of about 23° C. Specimens of these products, submitted to the Bureau 
of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture for analysis, proved to be remarkably 
free from fatty acids, the ‘‘ko-nut”’ containing 0.13 per cent and “kokorek: ,’ the 
harder substance, only 0.04 percent. The material from which this company manu- 
factures its products is East Indian coconut oil. Though they are prepared to press 
oil from copra itself and have a perfectly equipped oil mill, it lies idle for want of 
material. There is no reason why America should not offer a market for all the 
copra produced in Guam, the Philippines, and Samoa. Ina letter from Albin Garrett, 
president of the India Refining Company, he says: 
When we consider results of the development of the coconut industry in the 
island of Ceylon, with an area of 25,000 square miles and a production of coconut 
products of 76,210,370 pounds in 1893, and risen to 206,035,384 pounds in 1903—a 
period of ten years, it would seem that, with American methods and enterprise intro- 
duced into the Philippines, with 41,000 square miles of territory in the island of 
Luzon alone and 116,000 in the group, with a very enormous coast line, which is 
what counts in coconut production, a great field is open there for development. As 
we believe this city is the largest market in the world for manila hemp and has the 
only plant for handling copra in this country, it would seem that the lines will open 
if the button could be properly touched. 
In consequence of tests made by Dr. Theodor Ternes, of the Royal Imperial 
Hospital of Vienna, an official report was made, stating that coconut butter meets 
all hygienic requirements; that it is superior to animal fat and butter; that it is 
“See Listoe, Cocoa Butter in the Netherlands; and Skinner, Copra Products at 
Marseille; Advance Sheets of Consular Reports, October 15, 1902. 
> Official Report of U.S. Consul-General Robert P, Skinner, September 18, 1902. 
