158 MARKETING COCONUTS AND COPRA 



mainly established in the neighbourhood of the 

 Monument and in Eastcheap. They supply the 

 merchants who exploit the " three shies a penny " 

 industry, which is far more important than most 

 people realise, millions of nuts being distributed 

 throughout the kingdom for sporting purposes. 

 Most of these are imported from Ceylon, West 

 Africa and the West Indies. The present 

 price per 1,000 for Ceylon-grown nuts is between 

 6 and 6 10s. At the important Whitsuntide 

 costermongers' market in London the nuts are 

 classed as " large milky," " middles," " smalls," 

 " milky growers," and " chats/' the last-mentioned 

 being the smallest and thinnest. One of the pecu- 

 liarities of the coconut trade is that it has always 

 remained under the control of a small number of 

 dealers, owing to the fact that it is a somewhat 

 difficult business to understand, its movements 

 being influenced by factors that would baffle those 

 who have not acquired, by long practice, the 

 necessary knowledge. The nuts sometimes arrive 

 in England in a dry condition, a defect that is 

 revealed by shaking them close to the ear. Indeed, 

 many experts can ascertain the state of the inside 

 of the nut merely by knocking them together, while 

 others tap the nuts with a large silver ring worn for 

 the purpose. Milkiness is one of the essential 

 features of a really fine nut, its lovers regarding 

 the liquid as a rare and refreshing beverage, an 



