KAPOK 211 



sequently require very little attention, but the soil 

 must be kept free from weeds. 



During the early years of growth other plants 

 can be cultivated between the young trees. In Java 

 it is a common practice to grow pepper in this way, 

 but it should not be planted before the kapok trees 

 are three or four years old. 



The trees begin to bear in the third or fourth year, 

 but sometimes not till later. The crop is never very 

 large until the sixth year. It has been found in Java 

 that a dry fruit weighs on the average about 414 

 grains and contains 76 grains of fibre. In Cambodge, 

 the average weight of a dry fruit is said to be 494 

 grains, and the average weight of fibre 107 grains. A 

 well developed tree gives an annual yield of from 2 to 

 4 Ib. of clean fibre. 



The tree flowers in April or May, and the fruits 

 mature at the end of October or in November. As the 

 fruit ripens it becomes yellowish-brown, and then 

 begins to open. As soon as this point is reached, the 

 fruits are gathered by means of long bamboo poles 

 bearing small hooks at the upper ends. They are then 

 left on a clean floor, preferably of cement, and exposed 

 to the sun in order that they may ripen completely 

 and open fully. The fibre and seeds are picked out 

 of the capsules by women and children, and are dried 

 in the sun for some days. 



The seeds are usually removed from the fibre by 

 beating with sticks or by means of a simple machine. 

 Special machines have been recommended for the pur- 

 pose, but it must be remembered that in most cases 

 the kapok is only a subsidiary product and produced 

 in small quantities, so that the provision of expensive 

 machinery would not be remunerative. 



The kapok is packed in bales by means of hydraulic 

 or hand presses ; each bale weighs about 80 Ib. It 

 must not be compressed too severely as the fibres are 

 liable to be broken, and this not only impairs the 

 resilience of the material, but also reduces its buoyancy 

 by enabling water to enter the cavity of the fibre. 

 The number of bales exported from Java in recent 

 years is as follows: 1907, 92,874; 1908, 109,852; 



