180 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



OUR COCONUT PRODUCTS. 



PROGRESS DURING THE HALF-YTEAR, 

 The exports for the half-year, with the ex- 

 ception of desiccated nut and copra, show a 

 shortage as compared with the same period of 

 1908, but, taking them all over, the demand 

 seems to have been very steady. The greatest 

 increase to end June we tind in copra, which 

 shows some 107,552 cwt. exported in excess of 

 last year, the figures for the six months being 

 no less than 272,893 cwt., resulting to date 

 (30th June) in low but steady prices. Un- 

 fortunately, owing to inferiority in quality of 

 our nuts — the like of which must, we think, be 

 unknown to the oldest inhabitant, and which 

 is doubtless the result of an abnormally short 

 rainfall in 1908— less severe, perhaps, in the 

 Galle and Matara district— over our coconut 

 belt which extends practically from Puttalam 

 in the North-West to Hambantota in the South- 

 East, it has been taking from 30 per cent to 50 

 per cent more nuts to produce a candy (5 cwt,) 

 of copra ; so that, with thin kernel on the one 

 hand and low selling prices on the other, it 

 has been, we conclude, anything but a good 

 paying year so far for the copra drier. 



The strange part of it is, however, that with 

 practically 18 months continuous drought to end 

 of June North of Colombo, there has been little 

 or no shortage of nuts— such as they are— over the 

 half of current year. The very reverse of this 

 was predicted by those experienced in nut cul- 

 tivation. In fact, we know of one mill when the 

 nut supply was actually in excess and more work 

 was done than in any previous year ; so that it 

 would appear that while a very short rainfall 

 causes a considerable falling-otf in the quality 

 of the kernel, there is but little if any decrease 

 in number of nuts this remarkable tree pro- 

 duces, even in our very driest zone. Here con- 

 siderable extensions may be looked for with 

 the advent of the Puttalam railway, really the only 

 Line ever clamoured for by the sons of the soil, and 

 which is bound to come after our Governor 

 has made himself heard in Downing Street. 

 Now, with regard to the excess of some 5,370 

 tons of copra shipped already this year— and 

 which probably will be doubled by Decem- 

 ber, we think it is not hard to account for 

 this. It must )>e remembered that while 

 uearly all the European and American oil was 

 formerly used for soap-making, a new and very- 

 important industry has sprung up on the Con 

 tinent and in U.S. America, in edible fat— to 

 which we have before now alluded. The con- 

 sumption of thiSj owing to its cheapness 

 as compared with other fats, is in great and 

 ever increasing demand ; and the manu- 

 facture of it is, we think, bound to in- 

 crease rapidly and probably in a far greater 

 ratio than nut planting anywhere. Besides, 

 we must not forget that "as the tree lives, so 

 must it die. 1 ' The most remarkable feature in 

 this new nut produce is that it is to date made, 

 we may say, entirely from the ordinary sun- 

 dried copra ; so that, there must be room for 

 improvement. Indeed, we do not see why this 

 same fat should not be made locally with an 

 abundance of cheap village labour and bocomo 



a very important Island industry. Of course, 

 it might reduce our other nut products ; but to 

 do that would doubtless increase the demand 

 for them and'so raise their prices commensu- 

 rate with the cost of the raw nuts when the 

 great menace of today, the demon Over- produc- 

 tion, would vanish. 



The falling off in the export of coconut oil 

 (some 24,752 cwt.) can easily be accounted 

 for when we turn to the excessive export of 

 Copra and desiccated nut. And we must not 

 orget that the drying of this product depends, 

 on the price of oil, and this while being 

 very low over the period now under review 

 was very steady, ranging between R378 - 75 and 

 R430 per ton ; but, from what we can gather, 

 everything points to a run of very high prices 

 for oil, and which is sure to reflect on copra and 

 nuts. All the same we do not suppose nuts will 

 ever go to the price they did in 1907, our record 

 year, when our present and future great oppo- 

 nent, Java, sent away in the 1st quarter only 

 13,464 tons against nearly double that in 1908 — 

 little Lanka figuring in 1907 at only 3,832 tons, 

 against some 14,750 tons over the same period 

 of 1908. This proved conclusively that 1907 was 

 the very worst on record for our palm pro- 

 duce, when nuts went in some cases to R75 

 per 1,000, and copra exceeded R87. 



The figures for desiccated coconut an ever-in- 

 creasing product, show a very small increase 

 over same time last year with its huge 4,000,000 

 lb. over 1907, all of which, while causing a con- 

 siderable glut at home, went off. Inthis mills 

 also were hard hit, with very low prices on the 

 one hand and the poorest outturn on record 

 on the other ; it took nearly 3^ nuts at times 

 to the pound, against the usual three nuts 

 and at times under that and which they 

 generally get over the first half of the year. 

 Nuts came in very freely, in fact, more so 

 than usual, owing no doubt to copra men 

 going slow ; for it was equally hard for them 

 to make ends meet with such poor nuts, taking 

 at times fully 1,500 to make a candy of copra. 



The advanced price of nuts in sympathy with 

 the rise in oil and copra has caused a rise in 

 desiccated of 2 cts. to 2J cts. per lb. and, if 

 there is a further rise in oil, it will go higher, 

 there being a regular run on copra-drying, very 

 high prices being paid by these men who know 

 exactly when to procure the very best nuts. 



Poonac shows a decided falling off and 

 points to crushers at home and elsewhere 

 getting their poonac cheaper and fresher than 

 they can import it. 



There is a slight falling off in coir, but many 

 mills being still closed down should relieve 

 the over-production of the last year or two. 



MANURING TEA AND RUDDER. 



With reference to the paragraph record- 

 ing a visit of Messrs. Joseph Jraser and G. 

 A. Talbot to Rothamstead, in which it was 

 stated that 'slag' is regarded as a medici- 

 nal dressing for certain soils, just as arsenic 

 is used as a medicine for certain complaints, 

 an experienced authority in England, who 

 reads the Overland Observer, writes : — "1 am 



