and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— August, 1910. 175 



PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE 

 BUTTER. 



The recent discovery of practical methods of 

 converting the 'crude copra oil into a palatable 

 and satisfactory vegetable butter has given great 

 extension to the business in Germany, where 

 the consumption of edible fats is large. The 

 price at which coconut butter has recently been 

 produced by French and German manufacturers 

 has had a marked effect upon the sales of com- 

 pounds in which American cotton-seed oil is 

 used. Some seven companies are now crushing 

 copra and refining the oil for edible use in Ger- 

 many, selling their product under various pro- 

 prietors' names. The 



IMPORTATIONS OP RAW COPRA HAVE MORE THAN 

 DOUBLED WITHIN THREE YKAHS, 



and the extension of the industry would seem 

 to hinge more upon the ability of the crushers 

 to obtain supplies of materials than upon the 

 consuming abilities of the market. The Araer- 

 rican Consul-General at Hamburg says that to 

 obtain a first-class butter, oil of the first press- 

 ing is required, which is bleached with fuller's 

 earth. The raw material contains 60 to 70 per 

 cent, of fat, which is not uniform, but the mixture 

 of several fats, which explains why a cold-pres- 

 sure oil, or one obtained by means of moderate 

 pressure, is more solid than one obtained by 

 high pressure and high temprature. The oil is 

 either white or very light yellow, with a specific 

 sweet odour, particularly noticeable when heated. 

 The melting-point is about 76° Fahr., and varies 

 between 68° and 82°, the melting-point of the 

 sebacic acid is 76°. The saponification qualities 

 of the oil render it 



INVALUABLE FOR MIXING 



with oils which alone would yield averysoft soap 

 so that it may be said that no important manu- 

 facture of white soap is undertaken without a 

 large proportion of coconut oil, whereby the soap 

 cakes acquire a satisfactory degree of hardness 

 and resist the disintegrating influence of water, 

 without the loss of any cleansing power. For the 

 manufacture of an edible fat, the difficulty has 

 always been to eliminate the specific sweet odour. 

 This is now done by treating the expressed oil 

 with steam, the expansive power of which has 

 been increased by heat, and neutralising it with 

 magnesia. The substance is then washed out 

 with warm water and re-melted. According to 

 a German patent, 



ODOUR AND T4STE ARE REMOVED BY NEUTRALISING 

 THE COCONUT FAT WITH FULLER'S EARTH AND LIME, 



after which the mixture of fat and lime is 

 heated in a digester up to 250" Fahr. A French 

 patent provides for neutralisation of the fat 

 with an acid, the soap thus formed settling 

 in the container, while the neutral oil is drawn 

 off from the surface. The resultiug substance 

 is pure white, transparent, and similar to lard 

 in appearance. Its melting point is about 80°, 

 and its congealing point 66°. The product has 

 a weak, agreeable odour ; it keeps well, and 

 does not become rancid easily. One of the 

 most valuable properties of all coconut butters 

 is their ability to stand comparatively high 

 temperature without melting.— Indian Trade 

 Journal, June 30, 



RUBBER IN THE CONGO. 



An Interview with 

 MONSIEUR E. POLLET, 

 The Belgian Consul-General. 



Desirous of obtaining authoritative facts with 

 regard to the position and prospects of the 

 rubber industry in the Belgian Congo, we called 

 upon Monsieur Pollet, the Belgian Consul- 

 General, who was good enough to give us all the 

 information at his disposal. 



'First ,' said M. Pollet, ' I should like to tell 

 you of the various alterations and improvements 

 which have recently been made in the govern- 

 ment of the Congo, especially as these improve- 

 ments affect the rubber industry. No doubt 

 you know that Mr. Kenkin, our Minister for the 

 Colonies, has recently returned from a three- 

 months' tour of the Congo State, which he 

 entered from the West Coast, returning the same 

 way. During his visit he travelled extensively 

 in the interior of the colony, and the informa- 

 tion he gathered will prove most useful to the 

 Government. Our present King, when Prince 

 Albert, also visited the colony, travelling up 

 from the Cape and leaving by the West Coast. 

 His Highuess visited parts of the Congo through 

 which the Minister for the Colonies did not 

 pass, and therefore the knowledge he gained 

 during his journey will also be of very great 

 service to his country,' 



'The various reforms inaugurated, then, are 

 due to these visits ? ' 



' To a great extent. Of course, the Congo is 

 a vast region, but it is becoming better known, 

 and fresh measures for improvement are being 

 devised, but I think everyone will admit that a 

 very good beginning has been made. The most 

 important alteration in the government of the 

 Congo is the 



THROWING OPEN OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY 



to private enterprise and the gradual extinction 

 of the system, which has hitherto prevailed, by 

 which so much of the country was worked by 

 and for the State. From July 1 this year more 

 than half of the State land will be free — viz. .prac- 

 tically all the laud lying below the 4th degree 

 S., a wide strip on the west, and an isolated 

 block on the extreme north-east. On July 1, 1911 

 the central portion of the State, and, finally, on 

 July 1. 1912, the remainder of the north lands 

 and a strip on the east will be thrown open, and 

 so the whole colony, with the exception of a 

 few Stats reserves, will be freed. The abolition 

 of State working will, of course, 



AFFECT THE RUBBER INDUSTRY. 



Private people or companies who have already 

 been given the right to collect rubber will retain 

 the right, and others who desire to start col- 

 lecting will, on payment of the personal tax, be 

 permittod to do so ; a permit will be required 

 for each establishment, and in the case of rub- 

 ber the cost of the permit will be 250 francs per 

 annum. Employees of persons or companies 

 possessing permits will have to carry a certificate 

 of identity. The natives, who do not export 



