COCOS NUCIFERA. 239 



ROOT, CABBAGE, ETC. 



In some countries the root is occasionally used instead of Areca nut by betel 

 chewers, but in Guam, where the betel-palm grows spontaneously, there is never 

 a dearth of nuts. The terminal bud, or " cabbage," like that of many other palms, 

 is edible; but as the removal of the bud kills the tree, the natives of Guam indulge 

 themselves in eating it only on occasions of festivity, when they prepare it as a 

 kind of cabbage or raw salad. They either select for this purpose a tree which is 

 comparatively sterile or one which too closely crowds a neighbor. The flowers of 

 the coconut are frequented by several insectivorous birds, especially by "egige" 

 (Myzomela rubratra), a pretty little red and black honey eater, with a slender, 

 curved beak and a cleft, brush-tipped tongue. When the tree dies its crown is a 

 favorite nesting place for the Guam starling, Aplonis kittlitzi, a bird with glossy black 

 plumage, called "sali" by the natives. This bird also frequents the flowering 

 spathes in quest of insects. 



In many islands of Polynesia the strong elastic trunks of old coconut palms are 

 used to bridge streams. For this purpose usually sterile trees are used. In com- 

 merce the wood is known under the name of "porcupine wood." It is hard, hand- 

 some, and durable, and is used for many purposes, for furniture, cabinetwork, 

 walking sticks, and especially for veneering. a In Guam the wood is used only for 

 burning in limekilns. 



COPRA. 



From a commercial point of view the coconut is the most important product of 

 Polynesia. Its dried meat, called "copra" or "coprac," is the only article of export 

 from Guam. From this island the greater part goes to Japan. A hundred trees may 

 be expected under favorable conditions to yield from 25 to 30 quintals per year. For 

 every ounce of it there is a ready market, and traders vie with one another to secure 

 their crops from the natives by advancing them goods or money beforehand. The 

 current price is 4 pesos per quintal (102 English pounds). The nuts when fully ripe 

 are split open and allowed to dry for a short while. Then the kernel is cut out and 

 dried in the sun either on mats or on raised platforms. It is easily transported on 

 the backs of animals or in carts and shipped in bulk by the traders. There are two 

 regular harvests of copra per year, the principal one of which is in April, May, or 

 June. If cocoanut oil were manufactured by the natives, great difficulty would 

 attend its transportation, as the only receptacles on the island are bamboo joints and 

 "tinajas," or earthenware jars, from Japan and China. There is not a cooper on 

 the island, and the leakiness of barrels containing oil is proverbial. Another reason 

 for transporting the product of the nut in the form of copra is the economic value of 

 the refuse remaining after the oil is extracted. 



For a description of the methods followed in Samoa in cultivating the coconut on 

 an extensive scale and of preparing copra by means of drying apparatus, so that it 

 remains perfectly white, assumes a hard, brittle consistency, and is free from ran- 

 cidity, the reader is referred to Doctor Reinecke's work on Samoa, 6 extracts from 

 which have been published in the Journal d' Agriculture Tropicale in 1903 and 1904. 



PRODUCTS. 



Copra is used extensively in France, Germany, Spain, and England, chiefly in 

 soap making, but also in the manufacture of certain food products resembling butter. 

 This "cocoa butter," or "cocoaline," should not be confounded with the "cocoa 



«See Shortt, Monograph on the Cocoanut Palm, 1888. 

 & See list of works. 



