Chapter XIX 

 Coconuts as an Investment 



THE due consideration of the coconut 

 industry from an investment point of view 

 has been deferred, though, as a matter of 

 fact, it has been clearly inferred throughout the 

 foregoing chapters, for this reason : it is quite 

 impossible to accurately gauge the investment 

 possibilities of anything until one knows something, 

 however fragmentary, of its history, sphere and 

 future scope. The past and present value of the 

 coconut as a commercial asset has been explained 

 to the best of our ability in the preceding pages, 

 its future possibilities have been pointed out, and our 

 duty now is to indicate more clearly its significance 

 to the investor. This point, too, is not without its 

 Imperial aspect, inasmuch as the investor plays 

 just as important a part in the development of a 

 new industry as any active worker engaged in it, 

 whether he be the producer, shipper, merchant, or 

 the actual utiliser of its product. The industry that 

 lacks financial support lacks its very life blood and 



