ii4 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



Coco-nut growing in Panama is not a 

 mushroom industry. Balboa 1 reported that 

 he found dense groves of coco-nut palms along 

 the Pacific coast of Panama. De Candolle, 

 we believe, expressed the opinion that the 

 coco-nut palm probably originated on the 

 islands and coasts around the Gulf. To-day, 

 the improved railway facilities now being 

 arranged, plus the opening of the canal lands 

 in the Isthmus, tend to run up the value. It 

 is only to be hoped that the speculators will 

 not try to run them up to a fictitious price, as 

 by doing so they would give what promises to 

 be an exceedingly prosperous industry a serious 



Port of Spain, $32 in bags for large peeled." Freight, 

 &c., has to be added to this price before the comparative 

 price of $48 for San Bias nuts (probably now still higher) 

 can be arrived at. Against $32 for large nuts in bags, 

 Trinidad was quoting 4*25 cents per Ib. for copra, and 96 

 cents per gallon for oil. Except for the throw-out nuts 

 no one, however, troubles to make copra or oil for export 

 at such prices for the nuts, although, owing to the large 

 number of East Indian coolies in the Island, there is a 

 fairly substantial local demand. The exports of coco- 

 nut products from Port of Spain are returned as 

 follows (for prices in 1913, see end of book) : 



Coco-nuts. Copra, bags. 



1888 ... 10,151,228 



1898 ... 12,430,016 



1908 ... 16,622,708 ... 18,220 



I90Q ... 19,158,513 ... 15,247 



1910 ... 19,768,223 ... 12,494 



1911 ... 20,466,209 ... 10,315 



1 Vasco Nuilez Balboa, the Castilian, who crossed the 

 Isthmus in 1513. He was beheaded in 1517. 



