362 Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



independently of the sun, by means of hot 

 air in a properly constructed oven or other 

 mechanical appliances, or in buildings or rooms 

 specially designed for the purpose. 



In his Farmers Bulletin, No. 17, on coco- 

 nut culture (Bureau of Agriculture, Manila, 

 Philippine Islands) just to hand, Mr. Barrett 

 includes useful information and instructive 

 illustrations of the rearing, harvesting, and 

 preparation of coco-nuts and coco nut pro- 

 ducts. His first photographs of a typical 

 plantation at La Laguna, show at a glance, 

 by the closeness of the trees, why the pro- 

 duction on some, and most of the estates 

 there, is so small. 



In the matter of drying the copra, of 

 which the Philippines now claim to be pro- 

 ducing about one-third 1 of the world's total 

 crop (and this percentage is likely to increase 

 in the near future), we are warned that it is 

 highly advisable that steps should be taken 

 at once towards the general adoption of arti- 

 ficial dryers in place of the present methods 

 of sun-drying and smoking over the tapahan. 



The disadvantages of the sun-drying process, 

 points out Mr. Barrett, are : It can only be 

 used during the dry seasons, which in most 

 parts of the Philippines are of more or less 



1 The present crop is valued at P. 20,000,000, but 

 with proper cultural methods it is calculated that the 

 same area could easily export P. 25,000,000 (P. = Philip- 

 pino = i yen or 2s. o^d.). 



