5 
night and in case of rain the trays are piled under a shed. After stand- 
ing in the sun for two or three days the meat becomes partially dry and 
has shrunken sufficiently to permit its removal from the shell. It is 
then put back on the trays and again exposed for a few days until it is 
thoroughly desiccated. 
The other method of preparing copra in use at San Ramon is to pile 
the coconut halves, face downward, on a bamboo grating over a slow fire 
of husks which is burning in a thick-walled brick kiln about 6 feet high, 
the whole being inclosed in a large shed. By this arrangement it is 
sufficient to dry the nuts over night before removing the shells. 
After heating the meat in the same manner during four or five hours 
on the next day, it is ready to store for the market. “Grill-dried” copra 
prepared in this way is not quite so liable to be attacked by insects and 
molds, but on account of its dark color and slightly smoky flavor it is 
considered inferior in quality to the sun-dried article. 
