xn.A, 2 Brill, Parker, and Yates: Copra and Coconut Oil 85 



inspectors stationed at the various shipping centers in the prov- 

 inces a uniform product only would be marketed, and under 

 this condition chemical analysis would be a valuable means of 

 determining the worth of a parcel of copra. 



The probable solution of the copra problem will come' through 

 educational measures and encouragement of the investment of 

 capital in coconut plantations. Modern plantation managers will 

 • apply improved methods, and the small grower will necessarily 

 follow their example or be satisfied with a discriminating price 

 for his poorer quality of copra. At present the Manila market 

 does not demand a high grade of copra. Any quality of copra 

 sells and with too little difference in price from the best grade. 

 The ordinary dealers are satisfied to make their profit on poor 

 grades of copra. At present a poor grade of copra controls the 

 market; in fact no other is available in large quantities, and 

 parcels of good copra are so rare that they must be sold at the 

 normal price and thrown in with the bad. Just as soon as 

 there is a sufficient amount of good-quality copra offered to 

 pay for handling it separately, a new standard will be set and 

 sufficient discrimination shown between good and poor copra to 

 pay the producer for extra care in producing that of good quality. 



Three grades of copra are regularly recognized in the Manila 

 market : Cebu Sun Dried, Fair Marketable Manila, and Laguna. 

 A discriminating price of about 75 centavos per picul exists for 

 Sun Dried over Laguna. 



The above condition is applicable to the usual local conditions 

 and is not true of the world's market, where a discriminating 

 price is paid for copra dependent on the quality. Inquiries have 

 been received by local merchants asking for terms for the supply 

 of high-grade copra in large quantities. The price quoted was 

 sufficiently higher to warrant the use of greater care and the 

 expenditure of considerable more money in the preparation of 

 the copra. However, under present conditions it is impossible 

 either to buy large quantities of high-grade copra in the local 

 market or to produce the same with existing methods. One 

 shipment of 1,000 tons of high-grade copra from the Philippines 

 would do much toward raising the present standard of our copra 

 in the world's market and to increase the demand for it. 



SUMMARY 



The moisture content of representative samples of commercial 

 copra is shown. Tables showing the loss in weight, the rise 

 of temperature, and the presence of notable quantities of carbon 

 dioxide, in the surrounding atmosphere when poorly dried copra 



