118 USEFUL APPLICATIONS OF COIR. 
The above account! of the uses of the Cocoa-nut Palm 
would be very incomplete if we omitted all notice of the 
various purposes to which Cocoa-nut fibre is applied in this 
country, and in which so much ingenuity is displayed. We 
therefore borrow the following contemporary account of the 
articles exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. 
“Tt is instructive to witness the many useful and orna- 
mental purposes to which the vegetable fibre of the Cocoa-nut 
may be applied. Of the manufacture of the fibre which en- 
velopes the shell of the nut, the principal exhibitors at the 
Crystal Palace are Messrs. Wildey and Co., of Holland Street, 
Blackfriars Road, and Mr. Treloar, of 42, Ludgate Hill. The 
first-named firm show specimens of Cocoa-nut fibre in various 
stages of preparation. Commencing with the husk,-we have 
first the cleaned fibres, separated from the intervening vegetable 
substance; then, a selection and preparation by patented 
machinery of the fibre for making brushes and brooms—a 
substitute for bristles; and next we have the fibres still further 
cleaned, curled, and dyed to resemble horse-hair, such as 
upholsterers use for stuffing mattresses; and, lastly, follow 
samples of yarn and cordage of different kinds, together with 
matting, door-mats, and netting for sheep-folds. 
“The articles exhibited by Mr. Treloar still further illustrate 
this novel and interesting manufacture. The stair-carpets and 
floor-mattings produced by this exhibitor consist of upwards 
of twenty different registered patterns, all of which are new, 
and one of which now covers the floors of the Symposium, at 
Gore House. The brushes comprise every kind; and, so far 
as it is possible to form an opinion from mere observation, 
they appear quite as well adapted for all ordinary purposes as 
the best bristle brush—while, no doubt, the difference in price 
' The statement frequently made of the Cocoa-nut Palm growing only in the 
vicinity of the sea, in consequence of the presence of salt in the soil, has not been 
noticed; nor the common custom of placing some salt round a cocoa-nut, when it is 
planted and expected to germinate. The sea-coast is well known to be distinguished 
by its moist climate, as well as by the soil below the surface being moist. Both 
these afford facilities for the growth of the plant, while the salt which is often placed 
round the germinating nut is positively useful in preventing white ants from eating 
it up. In consequence of the injury these cause, it is considered preferable to trans- 
plant the young plants when they have put forth three or four leaves, and in rainy 
weather, z.e., in May and June, keeping the plantation clear from weeds and white ants. 
