and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society, -July, 1911 75 



There are plenty of lands to be had at these 

 rates, but purchasers must be prepared with 

 hard cash — money down always impresses the 

 Ceylonese particularly— and not waste time in 

 attempting share purchase considerations, de- 

 bentures and the like, for this never leads to 

 anything but " talkee talkee," in which the 

 native delights, but has not the slightest inten- 

 tion of converting into a business transaction. 

 Investors should remember that money talks in 

 the East louder and to more purpose, than in 

 any other part of the world. 



In arriving at the approximate value of an 

 estate, purchasers should consult a European 

 valuer. Native proprietors are notoriously bad 

 cultivators. They do not understand the value 

 of manuring or of tree preservation. Hence 

 "vacancies, : 'often amounting to one-third of the 

 originally planted area, are to be met with, 

 whilst there is in the majority of cases an entire 

 absence of orderly and efficient management, 

 which is responsible for immense loss of revenue 

 annually. These facts are mentioned in 

 ordor that purchasers may not be disappointed 

 if they find that they have not secured for their 

 money quite a " Kew Garden " pattern of pro- 

 perty. As a rule, coconuts aro planted 70 to 75 

 trees to the acre. In Ceylon and Southern India 

 they come into partial bearing at seven to 

 eight years. When ten years old they are in 

 full bearing, and will yield uninterruptedly for 

 seventy years or more. 



The average yield of a full-bearing planta- 

 tion is not more than 45 nuts per tree per 

 year, during which there are six pickings. State- 

 ments of yields approaching and exceeding 

 three figures are often to be met with in partic- 

 ulars supplied by vendors, but they should be 

 received with the greatest caution. It is quite 

 true that there are many estates where indi- 

 vidual trees will yield 70, 80, 90, and as much 

 as luO nuts for copra each year, but they are 

 the exception. It is equally true that careful 

 and elaborate manurial experiments have con- 

 clusively proved that under scientific and proper 

 cultivation the Ceylon coconut may be made to 

 yield a much higher average than that above 

 recorded. It is in this direction and in the com- 

 plete utilisation of the valuable associated pro- 

 ducts of the copra-yielding nuts, that European 

 investors may safely look for very handsome 

 and increasing profits. The test value of the 

 nut for copra is to be found in the count to the 

 41 candy." A " candy " is 560 lb weight. There- 

 fore, the lower the count the higher the value 

 of the nuts. Thus the average count in Ceylon 

 is 1,300 nuts to the candy. In Java and the 

 Dutch East Indies it is 1,560, whilst in the 

 Philippines it is over 1,7.00 nuts. The Ceylon 

 product possesses, in addition to value in the 

 count, an appreciable associate in its fibre, 

 which is always in good demand. 



The following will give some idea of the value 

 of the outturn of the Ceylon coconut : — 



Count to the candy of 



560 lb. = 1,300 nuts. 

 Fibre obtained from a (1 cwt. 



candy = -j (mattress) 



\\\ cwt. (brush) 



[Note.— A candy of 1,300 nuts produces 42 

 gallons of oil, and in " poonac," which i6 the 

 residue l: cake," about 45 per cent of the whole.] 

 Present value of unhusked nuts on the tree 

 = £4 17s 6d per 1,000. 



[Note.— In desiccated form 1,000 nuts yield 

 330 lb , whilst the parings, which yield high- 

 class copra, average 35 lb weight.] 



The present price at Colombo of desiccated 

 nuts is 20 cents per lb., and of nut parings 

 copra Rs. 80 per candy of 560 lb. 



A survey of the above figures will enable one 

 to arrive without much trouble at the approxi- 

 mate value of coconut properties. 



Take an estate of 1,000 acres, fully bearing, we 

 should have the following returns : — 



Gross value 

 Acres. No. of Annual of 



trees. yield. nut harvest. 



Nuts. £ 

 1,000 70,000 3,000,000 14,675 

 The total outgoings will average Rs. 80 per 

 acre, thus showing net profits £8,675, or about 

 £8 12s 3d per acre — not at all a bad return as 

 tropical agriculture goes. Owing to the in- 

 difference and want of enterprise among the 

 native owners, the wastage of fibre and ottier 

 by-products is enormous. 



Tons of hutsks are simply allowed to rot on 

 the ground, whereas if the fine long fibre which 

 they carry were utilised, it would add consider- 

 ably to the profits of an estate. 



Three million nuts give about 750 tons of 

 oil, the ruling price for which f.o.b. at Colombo 

 is at present £31 per ton. 



The fibre from 3,000,000 nuts will yield 1874 

 tons of brush and 750 tons of mattress, the 

 respective prices of which are at present per 

 ton £12 10s and £3 3s. A fibre-making plant 

 capable of dealing with 10,UOO husks per day 

 will cost £1,000 sterling. 



Here, then, are the main facts connected 

 with the coconut industry as it is run under 

 native management today, but we think suffi- 

 cient has been stated to show the immense 

 possibilities for development and improvement 

 that are open to the application of European 

 methods, and to the enterprise of the white man. 



The opportunities for British investors in trop- 

 ical agriculture are neither too numerous nor 

 over attractive, but in coconuts--truly termed 

 the Consols of the East— there is just now a clear 

 field, and if, by dallying, they lose these oppor- 

 tunities — and the ubiquitous Contintental capi- 

 talist has been much in evidence among coconut 

 lands lately— they will have lost a chance which 

 will never occur again. - Rubber World, June 15. 



NOTES FROM THE COCONUT 

 DISTRICT, N.W.P. 



June 17/24. 

 Large May-June Coconut Crops. 



It seems strange, that in spite of the deficient 

 rainfall, we should have large May-June crops. 

 Everyone of whom I have sought information, 

 has the same pleasant news to give, large crops, 



I do not know whether it is general through- 

 out the Island, but the general rule in the Wes- 

 tern and North-Western Provinces is, that the 

 largest crops of the year are harvested in May. 



