94 PHILIPPINE RESINS, GUMS, AND OILS 



still contains a considerable quantity of oil. In some mills this 

 cake is subjected to a second expression by means of hydraulic 

 presses, after which it contains only a slight percentage of oil. 

 The coconut oil obtained is filtered and stored in large tanks, 

 ready for domestic use or export. The oil cake, which remains 

 after the oil has been expressed, is used as cattle food or, some- 

 times, as fertilizer or fuel. 



In recent years the demand and prices for animal fats, such 

 as lard and butter, have been steadily growing and it seems 

 that there will probably be a permanent shortage of animal 

 fats. This has led to a greatly increased use of vegetable fats 

 by European and American makers of artificial butter, resulting 

 in an unusual demand for these vegetable products. Coconut 

 oil, which was formerly utilized largely in making soaps and 

 candles, is the most popular ingredient of artificial butter. 



* * * Marseilles, which is the most important soap-manufacturing 

 city in Europe, requires annually something like 120,000 tons of fat for this 

 industry. Heretofore 40 per cent of this has been coconut oil. But in 

 recent years, out of the total production of 85,000 tons of copra oil in 

 Marseilles, about 50,000 tons are sold direct as an edible fat, and 10,000 

 tons are exported to the Netherlands and elsewhere for mixing with cotton- 

 seed oil, peanut oil, and other soft fats to make oleomargarin; this leaves 

 but 25,000 tons for the soap trade there, when the normal supply from 

 this source has been 48,000 tons.* 



As a result of the increased demand for coconut oil, new co- 

 conut plantations are being developed, and it is said that some 

 of the margarine manufacturers have acquired plantations and 

 oil mills, so that they may control their own raw product. These 

 trade conditions in vegetable fats have naturally affected the 

 Philippines, which is one of the largest coconut-producing coun- 

 tries in the world. 



Formerly, a large proportion of Philippine coconuts were con- 

 verted into copra, which was shipped to the United States and 

 European countries where the oil was expressed. When copra 

 is allowed to stand for a considerable length of time before 

 shipment it tends to deteriorate, causing a loss in the quality 

 and quantity of the oil. Obviously, in so far as this deteriora- 

 tion is concerned, it is more economical to produce the oil in the 

 countries where the coconuts are grown. This would logically 

 reduce the bulk of the shipments and avoid possible losses due 

 to spoiling. The recent shortage of shipping space naturally 



* Brill, H. C. and Agcaoili, F., Philippine oil-bearing seeds and their 

 properties: II. Philippine Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 10 

 (1915), page 106. 



