Copra and its Preparaoga^^ 363 



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uncertain duration ; the time required is exces- 

 sive from an economic standpoint, and the 

 drying is not sufficiently rapid to prevent 

 decay in the copra from nuts that are more 

 or less immature when picked. 1 



The disadvantages of the fire-drying pro- 

 cess are : The creosote and other substances 

 carried in the smoke from the husks and 

 shells permeate the entire mass of the copra 

 meat, thus rendering it unfit for the higher 

 purposes for which the unsmoked article 

 may serve, such as butter, edible oil, &c. ; the 

 drying is always more or less uneven, some 

 of the pieces being scorched while others 

 are scarcely half dried at the time of removal ; 

 moulding and decay, while en route in bags, 

 are very likely to result from the half-dried 

 copra pieces, which are always sure to begin 

 to decay within a few days after their removal 

 from the tapahan. Against these the advan- 

 tages of the modern artificial methods are : 

 the absolutely smokeless quality of a well- 

 finished product ; the small amount of time 

 required for turning out a completely dried 

 article ; the far better keeping qualities on 

 board ship or in store ; the very superior appear- 

 ance of the artificially-dried material, its freedom 

 from mould, dirt, &c. ; all of which are almost 

 always to be found in the sun-dried product. 



1 The nuts of course should not be unripe ; at the 

 same time, as with the cacao planters in Bahia, the 

 Philippines must, in the end, adopt mechanical dryers. 



