COPRA AND COIR 51 



developments in the coconut industry, turn a 

 deaf ear to ideas, that not only make for a pure 

 and more saleable article, but for enhanced 

 profits to the growers. 



Extract from Report of the Director of Agri- 

 culture to the Federated Malay States, 1911 : 



" Coconuts. The Inspector of Coconuts esti- 

 mates the total area under coconuts in the 

 Federated Malay States at, approximately, 

 142,774 acres, an increase of 12,430 acres, or 

 about 9J per cent, over the total for 1910. The 

 area in several States is as follows 



Perak 73,120 acres. 



Selangor 33,355 



Negri Sembilan 19,584 



Pahang 16,715 



"It is gratifying again to record a steady 

 increase in the area under this valuable and 

 reliable crop. From the area now under culti- 

 vation the Inspector of Coconuts estimates, 

 taking an average of forty nuts per tree, that 

 there will be produced 1,100,000 piculs (65,500 

 tons) of copra, provided that the whole of the 

 nuts were converted into this product. The 

 by-products also should eventually be used on 

 a much larger scale for the manufacture of coir 

 matting, rope, etc." 



Coir. The fibre from the husk is called coir, 

 and in tropical countries is used very extensively 



