352 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



cost. At the present moment, even rubber 

 companies are indigestible, whilst those having 

 coco-nut options, and really good ones, find 

 that their offers meet with no better response 

 than comes from the sea-sick passenger when 

 hailed to a choice dinner by the ship's steward. 

 No matter how choice the dinner, the answer 

 is sure to be the same. 



This, however, does not say that coco-nuts 

 cannot and will not pay, and pay well. It 

 may only be a 10 per cent, or 20 per cent, 

 dividend ; but such a dividend on a well 

 managed 'and well planted estate is assured, 

 and if it will not grow into 200 per cent, 

 at least it is always there once the trees come 

 into bearing ; and in any case the success of 

 the estate is not so dependent on a large 

 supply of labour as rubber is, and always must 

 be. We would further maintain that present 

 rates of dividends can be added to, and this 

 and subsequent sections will be devoted to 

 showing why and how this can be done. 



Roughly speaking, of course, apart from 

 palm-wine, there are five main products for 

 export to be obtained from the estate, viz., 

 nuts, copra, oil, desiccated coco-nut, and 

 coir yarn, although we believe as many as 

 eighty-three different products are claimed to 

 have been found 1 suitable for trade and com- 

 merce in connection with the coco-nut palm. 

 If this is so, there are still hopes of new in- 



1 See Pereira, quoted in " Watt's Dictionary," ii, 456. 



