98 COCONUTS, KERNELS, AND CACAO. 



the shells can be cracked by machinery such as is already 

 used for ordinary palm nuts in West Africa. In the case 

 of Babassu nuts, however, like Cohune nuts, the problem 

 of extracting the kernels is more difficult, as the fruits 

 have a fibrous pericarp, the removal of which is generally 

 regarded as necessary before the nuts can be cracked. 



For cracking " Babassu " nuts a machine has been 

 constructed by Messrs. Hind & Lund, of Preston. In 

 this machine the nuts are crushed endwise between a 

 fixed steel anvil with a concave depression on the surface 

 and another anvil operated by means of an eccentric 

 device attached to gearing which may be worked either 

 by hand or power. The machine is stated to deal with 

 40 nuts per minute, and is sold at 25, f.o.b. Liverpool 

 (if 100 machines are ordered at one time). 



The Downie machine, designed by Wotherspoon, con- 

 sists essentially of a depulping device for removing the 

 fibrous pericarp, a centrifugal nut-cracker working in 

 conjunction with an oscillating riddle, and also with a 

 brine bath or with water for separating the broken shell 

 from the kernels. The machine is driven by means of a 

 5 H.P. oil engine. 



Another nut-shelling machine, designed to shell " hard 

 nuts, such as the Cohune nut/' has been patented by 

 Dyer and Innes-Ward (English Pat., 5687/1913). This 

 machine can deal with 8 to 10 tons of Cohune nuts per 

 day, and requires 1J H.P. 



Both of the last-named machines are devised for 

 Cohune nuts, but the " Babassu," being very similar in 

 hardness, could doubtless be handled by the same 

 machinery. 



The Strephonema Nut. Three new oilseeds from Tropical 



