SEED OILS 93 



has the property of absorbing oxygen from the air and forming 

 a dry, hard coating, is the most important of the drying oils 

 and is employed extensively in making paints and varnishes. 

 Philippine lumbang oil is also an excellent drying oil. 



Andes * gives the composition of numerous oil cakes and 

 discusses the practical application of these materials as cattle 

 foods or fertilizers. 



FAMILY PALMAE 



Genus COCOS 

 COCOS NUCIFERA L. (Figs. 34-37). Coconut palm. 



COCONUT OIL 



Coconut oil, which is derived from the fleshy kernels of Cocos 

 nucifera, is far more important in the commerce of the Philip- 

 pines than all other oils combined. An adequate discussion of 

 an agricultural subject such as this v^ould require so much space 

 as to be out of place in a publication dealing primarily with forest 

 products. As explained in the introduction, there are very 

 few important oils derived from cultivated plants in the Phil- 

 ippines, and so it has seemed advisable to include a short account 

 of these in the present section. 



High-grade coconut oil is edible and is employed largely in 

 making edible fats and artificial butter (margarine or oleomar- 

 garine). The lower and cheaper grades, which usually contain 

 a considerable proportion of free fatty acids, are not suitable 

 for food and are used principally for making soaps and candles. 

 Coconut oil is also used in cooking, as an illuminant, and for 

 various other purposes, such as the preparation of lotions, salves, 

 and hair cosmetics. The uses of the different products of the 

 coconut palm have been discussed by Miller f and in the section 

 on palms and palm products. 



The usual method of obtaining coconut oil is essentially as 

 follows : The husks are first removed from the nuts, after which 

 they are split by a large knife and the milk poured off. The 

 split nuts are next dried in the sun, or by artificial heat, after 

 which the dried meat or copra is easily removed from the shells. 

 The copra is then ground in a mill, heated, and subjected to 

 pressure. The oil cake which remains after the first expression 



* Andes, L. E., and Stocks, H. B., Vegetable fats and oils, (1917), 

 page 323. 



t Miller, H. H., Commercial geography, the materials of commerce for 

 the Philippines, (1911). 



