4 THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF THE COCONUT 



will be found in these pages. Altogether, eighty- 

 four separate, distinct uses have been found for 

 these, the most important being identified with 

 foodstuffs. In this sense the coconut still retains 

 its original purpose, for long before its present 

 value to the white man was ever contemplated 

 it formed the staple article of diet in every coconut- 

 growing region, particularly in the Pacific. Natives 

 have always grown them more for their own 

 requirements than for trading purposes, and this 

 constitutes an important factor from a market point 

 of view, for it assures a constant local demand 

 quite apart from the world's general consumption. 

 It has been estimated that each native consumes 

 about sixty coconuts a month, these furnishing him 

 with both meat and drink that require neither 

 cooking nor preparation ; indeed, he may be said 

 to base his entire existence upon this remarkable 

 nut, for it also provides him with shelter, profitable 

 employment, and even raiment. In many regions, 

 notably in Ceylon, natives calculate their wealth 

 by the number of their coconut trees twenty 

 trees in full bearing being considered sufficient to 

 maintain a man in comparative comfort throughout 

 the year. They also provide dowries for daughters 

 and pensions for widows, and thus justify their 

 right to the appellation of the Consols of the East ; 

 indeed, they possess one distinct advantage over 

 the world's premier stock, inasmuch as they repre- 



