202 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



The methods by which the oil of the coco-nut is 

 extracted fall conveniently under three heads : First, 

 methods involving no special apparatus, but consisting 

 in the mere maceration of the endosperm and squeezing 

 out as much of the oil as can conveniently be ex- 

 pressed ; second, more complicated methods characteristic 

 of single regions where they have been locally developed ; 

 and third, factory production by modern methods. 



By the first of these general methods oil is practically 

 produced only for purely local consumption and in 

 very small quantities. In such cases the oil may be 

 produced without heating, or its separation may be 

 facilitated by heating ; and the same is true of its 

 separation from the liquid mass squeezed out of the 

 pulp. A very high quality of oil is likely to be secured 

 in this manner, and it is not unusual in coco-nut 

 countries, at least throughout the Orient, for people to 

 prepare oil in this way for their own use and to prepare 

 other oil for sale. 



Of the second general method or group of methods, 

 there are three modifications in wide enough use to 

 merit mention. In Java the coco-nut oil is extracted 

 by the same apparatus used for extracting the oil of pea- 

 nuts. This is not as good a method in any respect as 

 that used in the Philippines or Ceylon. It consists in 

 placing two heavy planks in a framework which holds 

 their lower edges together but lets the upper edges 

 spread apart so as to form a trough. This trough is 

 lined with carabao hides, and inside these are placed 

 strong bags or sacks containing the pulp made by 

 grinding or scraping the coco-nut meat. Wooden 

 wedges are then driven between the outer parts of the 

 planks forming the trough and a rigid structure outside 

 them. As the wedges are driven deeper the trough is 

 narrowed, and the sacks are squeezed, with the result 

 that the oil is forced out of them. The pulp is after- 

 ward heated again with additional water and the 

 squeezing is repeated. 



In Ceylon and in the neighbouring parts of India a 



