136 THE STERILISATION OF COPRA 



condition, material differences must necessarily 

 arise in the finished product. 



As the result of many years' observation and 

 experience in the drying of copra, an improved 

 method has been discovered whereby a simple test 

 is applied to the nuts as received a test which 

 instantly determines the percentages of oil and 

 moisture they contain. Guided by this infor- 

 mation, which indicates precisely the treatment 

 that each parcel of nuts should receive, the inventor 

 claims that he can produce a grade of copra that 

 remains uniform and constant, quite irrespective 

 of the geographical origin of the nuts or the con- 

 dition in which they have been delivered. 



Indeed, by the adoption of this process, it 

 should be possible to produce a copra which could 

 be shipped from its point of origin without necessi- 

 tating the opening of the nut. While this might 

 constitute no advantage from the commercial 

 standpoint, owing to the increased cargo space 

 required to ship the coconut in its entirety, this 

 possibility does possess an intrinsic value, inasmuch 

 as the copra so produced would be completely 

 sterilised and absolutely milk-white throughout. 

 It would never suffer from the attacks of vermin 

 on board ship, it would be impervious to both 

 heat and cold, and there would be no possibility 

 of rancidification. 



For commercial purposes, however, the ordinary 



