52 COCONUT CULTIVATION 



for mattresses ; its principal uses, however, are for 

 mats, ropes, yarn, cordage, brooms, brushes, etc. 

 The husk, or pericarp, of forty nuts yields about 

 8 Ibs. of coir, but in some of the Malayan planta- 

 tions, where the nuts are very large, this is 

 exceeded. A rough and ready estimate puts the 

 yield of coir at 10 Ibs. per tree. 



The husks are soaked for some weeks in pits 

 filled with water, in order to loosen the fibre; 

 the hand process for obtaining the latter is by 

 beating with heavy clubs, but machinery is 

 much more expeditious and cleanly. The husks 

 are straightened in a crushing mill ; machinery 

 in the form of a wheel set with many small 

 teeth teazes out the fibre and at the same time 

 cleans it. The fibre is then sorted into grades 

 according to its fineness or coarseness. 



The market knows two kinds of fibre : 

 " Bristles " and " Mattress." The former is sold at 

 about 25 per ton, and the latter at 15. There 

 is, however, a third class known as refuse fibre, 

 which fetches about one-third of the price 

 obtained for first quality. An estate of about 

 1500 acres should, in addition to an oil mill, 

 have its own fibre factory. 



