Cost of Making Copra 4 1 1 



for transport to the coast owing to the estate 

 being in a district situated a long way from 

 the sea-board. To our mind, for estates of 

 3,000 to 5,000 acres, or at least 2,000, and the 

 entire area bearing, 15 per ton c. and f. 

 should be, as a rule, a fair average cost for 

 copra, for whether you pay a shilling a day for 

 labour when making the copra, as to some 

 Malays, or about fourpence a day, as with 

 Kaffir or other cheap labour, as in Africa, the 

 cost per ton works out much about the same, 

 a good Malay being equal to three indifferent 

 Africans. 



If this is correct, and allowing 2,000 nuts per 

 acre (trees 30 ft. apart), and 6,000 nuts per ton 

 of copra, an estate would cost one-third of /~5, 

 or i 135. 4d., an acre for general upkeep. If 

 the nuts were so large as to need only 4,000 to 

 make a ton of copra (an estimate that we find 

 too low, especially for large estates of 3,000 

 acres), then it would be extremely doubtful 

 whether the copra would cost less to produce, 

 as the nuts would only maintain their size 

 owing to better cultivation and liberal manuring, 

 which would run the cost up to 505. an acre, 

 and hence the same loos, for the two acres 

 necessary to produce 4,000 nuts. 



When scientific cultivation by means of 

 power tractors, ploughs and cultivators and 

 manure spreaders, supersedes the present low- 

 class labour engaged in tl chipping " or hoeing 

 the land, it will be interesting to see how the 



