xii. a, 2 Cox: Study of Copra 51 



of two weeks. Copra on hand after many months is still of 

 excellent quality. The box in which the treatment with sulphur 

 dioxide is made must be fairly tight, but not air-tight. There 

 must be circulation enough to keep the sulphur burning. In the 

 tapahan (Filipino grill for drying coconut meat) method of dry- 

 ing copra the coconut meat frequently begins to mold before 

 the drying is begun, and before the drying has proceeded far 

 enough to inhibit the growth of mold, considerable deterioration 

 has taken place. In the sulphur process the nuts can be sub- 

 jected to sulphur dioxide before mold has started to grow. With 

 proper organization and routing of the work, the labor cost when 

 the sulphur dioxide method is used will not exceed that in the 

 tapahan. 



Compared with the tapahan method the sulphur dioxide pro- 

 cess is exceptionally clean : the copra is preserved and bleached 

 by the sulphur dioxide and yields very white copra ; there is no 

 loss of oil during the treatment or during the drying; an ex- 

 ceedingly uniform copra is obtained, and its keeping quality is 

 improved; and the oil expressed from the copra is practically 

 colorless, is free from rancidity, is pronounced equal to, or better 

 than, the best Cochin oil, and usually will sell for at least 10 

 centavos 4 a kilogram (2 cents or more a pound) more than 

 ordinary oil. At 10 centavos a kilogram there is a difference 

 of about 4 pesos per 63.25 kilograms (1 picul) of copra. Storage 

 conditions and the problem of storage must receive careful con- 

 sideration even with first-class copra ; however, this will become 

 less and less of a problem as more and more of the Philippine 

 copra is consumed in local oil mills. 



Other experiments have been in progress in an effort entirely 

 to eliminate the drying process and to extract the oil from fresh 

 coconut meat. 



Lack of means for producing a good grade of copra or oil 

 from the fresh nut has not been the only obstacle in the way 

 of the improvement of the coconut industry. Most dealers have 

 been contented with a poor copra and could not see any advantage 

 to themselves in being able to secure a better product with a 

 higher oil content. Dealers say that it has been their custom 

 to put good copra with the poor, but the vegetable-oil companies 

 will buy the good copra at a premium as soon as they can get 

 enough to run a mill for a day or two once or twice a month. 

 Many dealers now realize that properly dried copra is worth 



4 One peso Philippine currency equals 100 centavos, equals 50 cents United 

 States currency. 



