Foreword 



IN these days of advancement one development 

 follows so fast upon the heels of another that 

 the marvel of to-day becomes the commonplace 

 of to-morrow, and one has perforce to accept change 

 and even revolution as normal phases of existence. 

 Nothing illustrates this progress more clearly than 

 the manner in which scientists and experts in every 

 department are developing the world's latent 

 wealth, particularly in the field of tropical agricul- 

 ture. In a comparatively short space of time we 

 have witnessed an expansion in the cocoa, rubber, 

 and banana industries that has brought these 

 commodities into the forefront of the commercial 

 world, and, incidentally, proved highly profitable 

 to those whose foresight enabled them to secure 

 financial interest in the movement at its inception. 

 Quietly but rapidly a revolution is being wrought 

 in another product which forms the basis of several 

 of our commonest household necessities butter, 

 soap, candles, and mats and in which the scope 

 for profitable enterprise is so great as to make it 



