THE PHILIPPINE 



Journal of Science 



A. Chemical and Geological Sciences 

 AND the Industries 



Vol. XIII NOVEMBER, 1918 No. 6 



MECHANICAL EXTRACTION OF COIR 



By F. V. Valencia' 



(From the Bureau of Science, Manila) 



ONE PLATE 



A valuable industry new to the Philippines can be established 

 in the extraction of fibers from coconut husks and in the use of 

 these husk fibers for the manufacture of brushes, door mats, 

 cordage, floor mats, mattresses, pillows, cushions, etc. The ex- 

 ploitation of such an industry would not only result in utilizing 

 the husks but would at the same time tend to eliminate their 

 use as fuel in the grill drying of copra and thus obviate an 

 amount of smoke that produces a dark-colored copra of inferior 

 grade. The ash is generally used for fertilizer, and rejected 

 husks are frequently incinerated in large heaps for the manurial 

 value of the ash. The coir industry in Ceylon is well estab- 

 lished and gives household employment to many women and 

 children. There are also mills equipped with modern machin- 

 ery. The best-grade fiber is said to be made entirely by native 

 methods which have been described by D. S. Pratt.^ 



Prudhomme ^ says that in Ceylon one thousand husks yield 

 an average of from 68 to 79 kilograms of fiber. These figures 

 may be taken to represent the average commercial yield of fiber 

 in India, Ceylon, Straits Settlements, Java, and Indo-China. Sa- 

 leeby* has estimated that the husks of one thousand coconuts 



' Testing engineer. 



^This Journal, Sec. A (1914), 9, 195. 



'' Prudhomme, E., Le Cocotier. Augustin Challamel, Editeur, Paris 

 (1906), 374. 



*Pha. Agr. Rev. (1912), 5, 278. 



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