6 THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF THE COCONUT 



been in the habit of buying. As a consequence, 

 they denuded the Manchurian market of practically 

 the whole of the production of the country. On 

 the other hand, the Soya Bean had for many 

 centuries been the sole source of edible and culinary 

 oils supplied for China, the consequence being that 

 when the Western nations bought up the whole of 

 the available supplies, the Chinese housewife was 

 forced to look elsewhere for suitable cooking 

 materials, with the result that coconut oil from the 

 East Indies and other places near at hand came 

 into favour amongst them. 



Now that many of the promises made on behalf 

 of the Soya Bean have not been fulfilled, and 

 Eastern consumers have reverted to the older, 

 proved, and jnore satisfactory article, the pro- 

 duction in Manchuria has fallen materially, because, 

 although this oil can now be purchased on nearly 

 as favourable terms as before the Russo-Japanese 

 War, the Chinese consumer has, in the meantime, 

 become accustomed to the use of coconut oil, and 

 actually prefers it. Thus he is no longer an eager 

 buyer of the home product. 



It is obvious from this that it is only a very 

 short time before China, with its teeming popula- 

 tion of 600 millions, will be in the open market 

 as a competitor against our Western buyers, 

 the effect on the market naturally being to cause 

 prices to appreciate, and to render the existing 



