OILS AND OIL SEEDS 337 



academic interest, but it is inappropriate here to deal 

 with this particular question. It is, however, significant 

 that the historical work the Mahawanso does not 

 refer to it before the reign of Parakarama the First, 

 that is, about 1153 A.D., nor does it speak of the coconut 

 as an article of food. 



Since its introduction, however, it has been systema- 

 tically cultivated throughout the greater part .of the 

 island, except where arid conditions on the one hand, 

 or altitude on the other, precluded its successful rearing. 

 The trade in coconut oil and copra alone has for the last 

 fifty years formed a prominent item in the commerce 

 of this island, and in recent years has attracted much 

 capital from outside the colony. It is noteworthy of 

 remark, that writing in 1817, Dr. Davy refers to an 

 extensive plantation of coconut trees situated about 

 i miles from Ruwanwella, as being the property of 

 Government. 



In 1839 the value of the coconut oil exported amounted 

 to 26,597, increasing in 1859 to 118,864. In 1841, 

 systematic coconut cultivation by Europeans, on an ex- 

 tensive scale, was first commenced. In 1861, in the 

 Northern Province, thirty estates were in European 

 hands, while twenty were owned in the Eastern, and 

 some thirteen in the Western Province. From that time 

 the development of the enterprise grew steadily and 

 became more and more in the hands of the natives. Our 

 exports now extend practically to all the chief markets 

 of the world. The exports of copra and coconut oil 

 from Ceylon in the years 1840 to 1910 are shown in the 

 tables on pages 338 and 339 : - 



The old methods of oil extraction, with the aid of the 

 cattle mill or " Chekku," are still followed in many parts 

 of the country, but modern machinery has largely re- 

 placed these romantic methods of two centuries ago. 

 The sound of the creaking mill is still heard in the wilder 

 parts of Ceylon, where modern ways and means have not 

 entered and destroyed the rustic simplicity of the people 

 or their quaint tools of trade. 



Ceylon coconut oil has always stood high in the 

 estimation of merchants, owing to its purity and clear- 

 ness, and it is probably due to this factor that it has 

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