COCONUTS 63 



full bearing, a wide commercial interest has been manifested 

 in further planting. A great increase in the total supply of 

 coconuts has thus been brought about, but limits of the demand 

 for coconuts seem not yet to have been approached. The price 

 of copra has steadily risen even with the increased supply. 

 So far as may be judged by present appearances, especially 

 taking into consideration the additional modern uses of coco- 

 nut and its products, the coconut industry seems to be about 

 as safe and secure from a financial standpoint as any tropical 

 agricultural industry. There is one serious enemy of the 

 coconut which has wrought havoc in Cuba, Jamaica, and a 

 few other localities in the West Indies. This is the bud rot, 

 which has been shown to be a bacterial disease. Whole groves 

 of coconuts have been annihilated by this disease within 3 or 

 4 years, and Cuba perhaps has suffered most severely from 

 the disease. It appeared seriously in Cuba about 35 years 

 ago and its progress has caused the almost complete disap- 

 pearance of coconuts from the island of Cuba except in the 

 Baracoa district of the extreme eastern end of the island. 

 In 1906, Cuba was the main source of supply of coconuts for 

 the United States. .At present, the Baracoa district furnishes 

 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 nuts annually for the American trade. 

 An indication of the importance of the coconut industry may 

 be obtained from the mere casual consideration of the United 

 States imports of coconut products. In 1914, the United 

 States imported 60,000,000 pounds of copra, 58,000,000 pounds 

 of coconut oil, and unshelled coconuts to the value of $1,800,- 

 ooo. These unshelled coconuts were largely used in the retail 

 trade and in the manufacture of desiccated shredded coconut. 



