May, 1909.] 



Oils mid Fat8t 



A tree produces, on the average, from 

 four to seven bunches of fruit every 

 year. 



The fruits have a fleshy fibrous outer 

 layer from which the palm oil of 

 commerce is prepared. This layer covers 

 a hard shelled nut from the kernel of 

 which a white oil known as ' palm nut 

 oil ' is produced. 



A very full and illustrated account of 

 the methods in use at Lagos for extract- 

 ing palm oil appeared in the Kew 

 Bulletin, 1892, (p. 200), From this it 

 appears that the fruits are boiled in 

 earthenware pots until they form an 

 oily maws. This is transferred to a 

 wooden trough where it is left over 

 night to cool. In the morning tli6 mass 

 is covered with cold water, and the 

 natives pound the oil out of the nuts with 

 their bare feet. The oil gradually rises 

 to the surface, from which it is skimmed, 

 and passed through a sieve to remove 

 the coarser impurities. It is then poured 

 into a pot and clarified by further 

 boiling. This palm oil is chiefly used in 

 the manufacture of soap and candle?. 



The kernels of the nuts from which 

 the white oil is prepared, are frequently 

 exported whole to Europe, after the 

 shell has been removed by the natives. 

 The ' kernel oil ' is expressed by hydrau- 

 lic presses, and has a number of uses, 

 one of which is in the manufacture of 

 margarine or artificial butter. The 

 resulting cake is used as a cattle food. 



According to the Kew Bulletin a single 

 tree may yield from 1 to 3 gallons of oil 

 per annum, depending on the character 

 of the soil and the rainfall. The price of 

 palm oil on the London maiket is from 

 £14 to £15 per ton. 



If fuller and reliable data could be 

 obtained from Southern Nigeria on such 

 points as suitable distance in planting, 

 the time and money required to bring a 

 plantation of oil palms into full bearing, 

 the average yield of nuts per tree, and 

 of oil per acre, together with the net 

 profit that might be expected per acre 

 over a given period, these details would 

 be of the utmost value to enterprising 

 planters in other tropical colonies who 

 may be thinking of taking up the cultiva- 

 tion.— Agricultural News, Vol. VII., No. 

 172,November, 1908. 



COCONUTS IN LACUNA AND 

 TAYABAS PROVINCES. 



By A. F. Byars, 

 Agricultural Inspector, Bureau of 



Agriculture. 

 In the rich Provinces of Laguua and 

 Tayabas the coconut industry can be 

 seen in every stage and from every 

 aspect. The beautiful panoramic view 



> be obta ined from Mount Banajao of 

 the vast coconut regions as a whole, 

 extending from the mountain to the 

 lake in one direction and to the sea 

 in another, is most impressive. 



San Pablo, the largest and richest in 

 agricultural products of all the towns 

 in Laguua Province and the centre of 

 the coconut industry, is a town of 

 about 25,000 inhabitants. It lies along 

 the main road leading from Los Banos 

 and Bay on the lake to Tiaong and 

 Lucena in Tayabas, also on the main 

 road from Santa Cruz to Magdalena. 

 Lilio, and Nagcarlan, and on the other 

 side through Alminos on into Batangas, 

 As a rule these roads ai e very good and 

 facilitate trade. The ownership of the 

 coconut groves, from which the town 

 derives most of its wealth, is distri- 

 buted among a comparatively large 

 number of its inhabitants, so that while 

 none of the people are very rich, none 

 are very poor. 



In this town a large part of the coco- 

 nut crop is made into copra, which is 

 sacked and sold in that form. Any day 

 hundreds of pack horses loaded with 

 copra may be seen coming from all 

 directions into the town, where it is 

 usually sold to dealers, who in turn 

 load it on caiabao carts (eight to ten 

 sacks to a cart) and send it to Bay, 

 where it is transferred to boats for 

 Manila. 



Coconuts are not harvested at stated 

 seasons, but are gathered from each 

 tree every two to four months. The 

 nuts are detached by means of a booked 

 knife attached to a very long slender 

 bamboo pole, or by a man who climbs 

 the tree and cuts the fruit stalks with 

 a sharp knife. The nuts are collected 

 in piles and are sometimes husked before 

 being removed from the groves. They 

 are carried to the small factories by 

 means of carts or sleds, or by pack 

 horses in the hill country. Often they 

 are floated down rivers and small 

 streams in the form of rafts, but this is 

 rather a dangerous means of transport- 

 ation, as was shown by a late baguio 

 in Laguna which broke up numbers of 

 rafts in Pagsanjan River, it being 

 estimated by some that from 100,000 to 

 200,000 nuts were scattered over Laguna 

 de Bay. 



Manufacture of Copra, 

 The process of making copra in this 

 section is very simple- It consists in 

 husking and halving the nuts and drying, 

 after which the meat is removed from 

 the shells. They are husked by means 

 of a pointed iron instrument, usually a 

 plowpoint fixed on a three-legged stand. 

 After it is hulled, a quick blow with 

 a dull bolo halves the nut. For drying 



