244 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Aur.u.sT 



1909. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



THE COCOA-NUT IN HAWAII. 



Ill view of the increased interest in the cocoa-nut 

 palm and its products which is bein^^ taken in several 

 parts of the West Indies, the following information 

 from the Philipjiinr A[/rLculh(,r<d Ret'lew, Vol. I, 

 No. 6, may be found useful. Hints on cocoa-nut cultiva- 

 tion have already been given in the Ayrtndtaral 

 Neics, Vol. VIII, Xos. LSI and 1S7 ; what follows here 

 deals more particularly with the uses of the chief 

 products ol' the plant, ancl with irs habit.it: — 



While tlie (.■ocoajuut i.s one of the few .<;[iccie.s of palms 

 native of Hawaii, lieiiig widely luit somewhat S|iar.sfly 

 scatttred along all the coast line.s of the group, its cultiva- 

 tion on an extended scale does not date before 19(J4- or 190.5. 

 Renewed interest in the cultivation of this extremely useful 

 tree is due in a large measure to the rapid increase in the 

 demand for the oil and filire. The value of eocoa-ruit oil has 

 long been recognized for soap-making and as an illunnnant. 

 Cocoa-nut oil is the basis of a number of patented food 

 compounds and butter substitutes, finding for this latter 

 purpose an enormous .sale within the tropics, because the 

 melting point of the so-called ' butter ' nianut'actured from 

 it is higher than that of either pure butter, or any of the oleo- 

 margarine compound.s manufactured from animal fat. Not 

 only is there a more or less legitimate field for the sale of 

 artificial butter made from the cocoa-nut oil in li'it countiie.<, 

 but its u.se as an adulterant is said to be ])iactisud on an 

 enormous scale in Denmark and other l-^nicipran cnuatrirs, 

 wdiere dairying is an imiiortant industry. 



Cocoa-nut oil is being rapidly displaced as an illuiiiinant 

 by the cheaper petroleum. A characteristic of the nil is that 

 it burns without smoking. 



The value of the by-products, after the extraction of the 

 oU from the copra is also rapidly increasing. Cocoa-nut meal 

 is beconung recogiuzed as a concentrated feed of liigli value, 

 and as an organic fertilizer e(iual to cotton seed meal. 



Coir, the fibre of the husk of the cocoa-nut, is in it.self 

 a valuable product. This fibre is used in the manufa<'turc of 

 rojjes and cordage, and is woven into matting and bugging. 

 The stiff, harsher fibres obtained from the leaf stalk and 

 from the mid-rili are used in the manufacture of all classes 

 of brushes. In oriental lands the leaves ]>rovide materials 

 for thatch, and the trunks for Louse and bridge construction. 



Another product of the cocoa-nut, not as yet utilized in 

 Hawaii, is obtained in the manufacture of a liijuor or alcoholic 

 beverage by fermentation of the .sap obtained by bleeding 

 the inflorescence. Elsewlierc in the tropics the cultivation 



ot tlie cocoa-nut for this purpose alone utilizes groves 

 hundreds of thousand.s of acres in extent. Sugar was 

 formerly made from thi.s sap in large quantities, and even 



many outlying tropical districts obtain 



now the natives 



the family sugar supply from this source. 



The cocoa-ruit tree demands above all things good drain- 

 age. It thrives neither in swamps nor on rocks. The roots 

 are thick, fleshy fibres, there being no taproot, and they 

 seem to be especially adapted for the storage of considerable 

 (piantities of water, but wherever they reach the level of 

 permanent standing water, or wherever stagnant waters ri.se 

 above the level of roots already formed, the.se rot, and the 

 tree sends out new and shorter roots only as far as the 

 perfectly drained and well-aerated soil extends. The tree 

 is a heavy feeder, requiring cultivation and fertilization, 

 giving best results where these can be augmented by irriga- 

 tion or abundant rainfall. 



.\nother factor is that the tree grows best in windy 

 local i<ins. Specimen trees in sheltered valley.s, where the 

 wind never strikes them, are more liable to be spindling 

 and uidiealthy. The requirements of the cocoa-nut may be 

 sininncd uj) in having light and room in windy locations, 

 where the soil is rich and well drained, and there is abundant 

 artificial or natural irrigation. 



A MECHANICAL POLISHER FOR 

 CACAO. 



'I'he following information respecting a inechanical 

 polisher for cacao, invented by Mi-. George Barnard of 

 St. Lucia, and known as ' Barnard's Patent Cacao 

 Polisher', has been received through the Acting Agri- 

 cultural Superintendent in that island : — 



This cacao polisher consists of a hollow cylinder, mad« 

 of wodd or iron, through which runs a shaft on to which are 

 keyed a number of 'eccentrics '. Attached to tlie lower or 

 under side of the.se eccentrics are feet or 'pedals ' which are 

 jointed, like the human ankle, in order to give a rocking 

 mot ion as the eccentrics rise and fall. Hard ruliber pads are 

 attaihed to the bottom of these ]>edals which give under 

 I)rcssurc to ])revent the beans from being crushed : ar» 

 additional safeguard against crushing is that the pedals do 

 not come within 2 inches of the cylinder, and are spicetl 

 sufficiently far apart on the shaft to allow the cacao to stir 

 about freely and become thorf>ughly mixed as the pedals rise 

 and fall alternately. 



'i'he cylinder and .shaft are r\in in opposite direction*, .Sf> 

 as to cduqilete the stirring of the beans, in order that cacf» 



