COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 205 



wooden grinders and repressed from three to six times. 

 The grinding and pressing are often done at once by a 

 very heavy rocking crib called an "ilohan." The oil 

 obtained after fermentation is inferior, and is used for 

 illumination or to make soap. 



The figures given by the men running these oil 

 mills vary too widely to be worth publishing, and no 

 careful study of the business has ever been made. The 

 same men who have oil mills practically always have 

 also grills for drying copra, and the amount of each 

 product which they prepare varies with the fluctuations 

 in the market. As a general rule, most of the produce 

 of plantations having access to cheap transportation is 

 sold as copra, while a comparatively large amount of 

 oil is produced on plantations remote from railroads or 

 good roads. 



Not much of this oil is exported, but as an article of 

 domestic commerce it is decidedly important. The town 

 of Nagkarlan is crossed by the railroad in its lower part, 

 but the upper and larger part of the municipality can 

 market its produce only over poor trails. The municipal 

 statistics for the three months ending in September 1912 

 show 505,381 trees in this town. The reported harvest 

 was 6,272,453 nuts for the three months. From this 

 there were made 404,600 kilos of copra and 499,302 

 litres of oil. The copra was valued at 13 centavos a 

 kilo, and the oil at 35 centavos a litre. The oil produce 

 of the town was therefore worth more than £6000 a 

 month. Practically all of this has to be packed to the 

 railroad on the backs of horses. 



In the modern oil factories the extraction of the oil 

 involves two essential phases : first, the maceration of 

 the copra, and second, the separation of the oil. The 

 maceration is very perfect, consisting of grating or 

 scraping and then of very thorough grinding. The oil 

 is extracted by means of large and powerful hydraulic 

 press**^. In some cases there is first a cold pressure to 

 produce oil of the best quality, and afterward a pressure 

 after treatment with hot water or steam ; or the pulp 



