60 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



1,000 nuts. The meat of the fresh coconut contains about 

 53 per cent, of water and 30 per cent, of oil, and dried copra 

 contains 2 to 7 per cent, of water and 64 to 71 per cent, of oil. 

 Coconuts are husked by hand by means of a sharp steel pike 

 or similar instrument securely fastened in a block of wood. 

 The coconut is grasped firmly in the hands and driven upon 

 the pike after which a wrenching motion splits off a portion 

 of the husk. Two or three motions of this sort are sufficient 

 to remove the husk from the nut. An experienced laborer 

 will husk 1,200 to 2,500 nuts per day. The husked nut is 

 easily broken into two hemispheres by a sharp blow with a 

 heavy dull knife, either a cane knife or machete. The nuts 

 are then dried in the sun or in kilns. About one-half of 

 the world's supply of copra is dried in the sun. Within a few 

 hours the meat curls away from the hard shell and is easily 

 removed. The sun drying process requires 2 to 4 days, while 

 artificial driers may produce the same result within 3 to 20 

 hours. Experiments are now being made with several kinds 

 of desiccating apparatus in an attempt to hasten the process 

 of drying and thus to produce \ better quality of product. 

 The dried coconut meat is the copra of commerce. In the 

 ordinary sun-drying processes 'the copra obtained is a dark 

 brown or black product of extremely uninviting appearance. 

 An almost white copra, resembling the desiccated, shredded 

 coconut in color, may be obtained by the use of artificial driers. 

 . Coconut oil was formerly used chiefly in the manufacture 

 of soap and candles. Methods of purifying the oil have been 

 devised and it is now extensively used for human food, espe- 

 cially in coconut-butter, also called nut-butter, vegetaline, and 

 palmine, a product extensively manufactured in Marseilles 

 and elsewhere since 1897. Both the solid and liquid portions 

 of coconut oil are also used in various cooking oils and mar- 

 garines. Coconut oil is yellow or pale in color and the best 

 and clearest grade of the oil comes from Malabar. At tem- 

 peratures below 74 F. the oil becomes solid. The oleic and 



