10 



cent of the oil goes to loss in the press cake. This is a loss that does not 

 occur in establishments equipped with the best hydraulic presses. It is 

 true that very heavy pressure carries through much coloring matter not 

 withdrawn by the primitive native mill, and that the oil is consequently 

 darker, and sooner undergoes decomposition; but modern mills are now 

 supplied with filtration plants through which this objection is practically 

 overcome. 



The principles of the above process are daily reproduced in thousands 

 of Filipino homes, where the hand rasping of the nut, the expression of 

 the milky juice through coarse cloth, its subsequent boiling down in an 

 open pan, and the final skimming off of the oil are in comon practice. 

 Notwithstanding the cheapness of labor, it is only by employing a mill 

 well equipped with decorticating, rasping, hydraulic crushing, and steam- 

 boiling machinery, and with facilities to convert the residue to feeding 

 or other uses, that one may hopefully enter the field of oil manufacture in 

 these Islands in competition with copra buyers. 



COIR. 



The fiber of the cocoanut husk, or coir, as it is commercially known, 

 has never yet been utilized in this Archipelago, excepting occasionally for 

 local consumption. 



FIG. 1. Cocoanut husk-crushing mill. 



Second in value only to the copra, this product has been allowed to go to 

 waste. The rejected husks are thrown together in immense heaps, which 

 are finally burned and the ashes, exceedingly rich in potash and phos- 

 phoric acid, are left to blow away. 



As the commercial value of the fiber is greater than the manurial 

 value of the salts therein, it is economy to utilize the fiber and purchase 

 potash and phosphoric acid when needed to enrich the soil. 



Highly improved and inexpensive power machinery for the complete 

 and easy extraction of the fibers of the husk, either wet or dry, is now rap- 

 idly superseding the tedious hand process once in such general use. Good 



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