192 THE COCO-NUT chap. 



parts, and with which "bei einiger IJ^ung" two men 

 can open 6000 nuts a day. The recent journals mention 

 another machine with which a man can husk one hun- 

 dred nuts an hour ; but this is no more than an efficient 

 labourer does without any machine. Various methods 

 of removing the husks have been in use. But the use 

 of a sharp iron bar set firmly in the ground or in a 

 block, so that it stands with its point aimed directly 

 upward a little higher than the worker's knee, has now 

 come in fairly general use throughout the tropics. 

 Husking a thousand nuts a day may be regarded as 

 satisfactory work, and for this a little more than the 

 common daily wage is sometimes paid. After the 

 removal of the husks, the next step is breaking the nut 

 open. The usual and best practice is to do this with 

 a sharp blow of a heavy knife so that the two halves 

 are as equal as possible. The water inside is spilled as 

 the nuts break. Good vinegar can be made from the 

 water if a little sugar is added, but the market in coco- 

 nut countries does not make this worth while. Care 

 should be taken that the water is thoroughly drained out, 

 because if any remains it will add to the difficulty of 

 drying the copra and will materially injure its quality. 



The methods of drying copra may be classed under 

 three heads : sun-drying, grill-drying or smoking, and 

 kiln-drying. The first of these is obviously the most 

 primitive and the least subject to control. To dry 

 copra in the sun requires from four to seven days of 

 favourable weather. If there is no rain and the treat- 

 ment of the copra is not inexcusably careless, this 

 method produces an article of very high quality. It 

 is therefore a proper method in places where the planter 

 may be sure that there will be no rain during the dry 

 seasons. This condition is a rather rare one in the 

 tropics. If rain falls while the copra is drying, the 

 latter must be protected against it either by bringing 

 it within doors or by placing a shelter over it. Either 

 of these necessitates having considerable labour avail- 

 able for prompt use, and available labour is an expensive 



