274 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



a Malaria Board, to be composed, presumably, 

 of Government and Municipal medical officials, 

 armed with executive powers and with penal 

 by-laws to strengthen its hands. These by- 

 laws will enforce certain responsibilities on the 

 public and the board will see that they are 

 borno dutifully. Although the details are not 

 decided yet, there is reason to believe that the 

 line of conduct of the campaign will coincide, 

 to a large extent, with the recommendations 

 made in February, 1910, by Dr. Middleton be- 

 fore the Municipal Commission of Enquiry, 

 these recommendations were summarised by 

 Mr Roland Braddell in his interesting letter on 

 malaria in the columns of the Straits Times of 

 August I2th, as follows : — 



1 Survey of all ponds, swamps, ditches and 

 pools for the presence of malaria. 



2. Filling up, draining and brick-lining 

 where necessary — lists of earth drains. 



3. Oiling where more permanent measures 

 cannot be carried out. 



4. Repair of rain gutters. 



5. Screening of all cisterns, tanks, barrels, 

 jars and other receptacles in and about houses 

 or periodical emptying of same. 



6. Collection and disposal of all broken bot- 

 tles, pots, jars, old tin cans, etc., in or about 

 houses. 



7. The opening of depots in different parts of 

 the town where quinine could be distributed free 



-to suitable cases and under proper precautions. 



8. The presence of larvae in any barrel, tank, 

 cistern, j ir, etc., to be considered an offence. 



9. Drawing up regulations embodying 5, 6 

 and 8. 



10. Distribution of leaflets in different langu- 

 ages explaining reasons- for action taken and 

 directions to be followed, advising use of mos- 

 quito curtains. 



11. Provision of a staff to carry on this work. 



So far, the scheme is still under consideration. 

 It has, we believe, been presented in draft form 

 to the Government, which, with implied ap- 

 proval, has passed it over to the Municipal Com- 

 missioners for their contemplation and amend- 

 ment or approval. Some definite pronounce- 

 ment on the matter should be made shortly.—- 

 Straits Times, Aug, 24. 



COPRA TRADE IN THE PHILIPPINES. 



A BOOM IN COCONUT PLANTING. 

 The Philippine Islands shipped abroad 116,374 

 metric tons of copra in the calendar year 1910, 

 and the average price for the yea? was about 3i 

 cents, gold per lb., says an American Consular 

 report. The price inoreased during the year 

 from about 3 cents, to about 4 cents, gold per lb, 

 in the last quarter. The steady growth of the 

 trade is indicated by the fact that shipments in- 

 creased from 168,473,499 lb., valued at $5,461,680 

 in 1908 to 232,728,116 lb., valued at $6,657,740 in 

 1909, and to '254,156,982 lb„ vaued at $9,153,951 

 in 1910 (fiscal years in each caso), and that there 

 was an increase from 113,643 metric tons in the 

 fiscal year to 116,374 metric tons in the calendar 

 year of 1910 Because of the high price, due 

 chiefly to the extraordinary demand for vege- 

 table oils, and because of the strong demand 

 generally, there is something of 



A BOOM IN THE COCONUT BUSINESS IN THE ISLANDS, 



and the increase in trade is having a marked 

 effect, not only on the islands themselves, but 

 upon shipping in the Far East and other lines 

 of business. In the Philippines the export of 

 copra is now the second largest element in the 

 foreign trade, comprising almost a fourth (23 



Eer cent) of the whole, and being exceeded only 

 y hemp. 



COCONUT PLANTING 



is being carried on more extensively than ever 

 before. Six years ago there was a period of high 

 prices, during which time extensive plantings 

 were made, and these trees will come into pro- 

 duction this year. Indications are that the ex- 

 port of the product during 1911 will exceed all 

 previous years in volume, while, owing to the 

 shortage of other oil-producing crops, the pre- 

 vailing high prices may continue for some time. 

 Naturaly, such conditions are leading to a gen- 

 eral expansion of business in all lines connected 

 with coconut planting and plantation supplies. 

 Exports nf copra from the Philippines to the 

 United States have more than kept pace with 

 the increased imports into the latter country, 

 due to the demand for coconut oil. 



The total imports of copra into the United 

 States during the fiscal years 1908, 1909 and 

 1910 were $481,232, $666,820, and $762,560 res- 

 pectively, and the imports thereof from the 

 Philippines were #213,999, $273,497, and $416,074 

 respectively. The increase in imports of copra 

 into the United States during the three years 

 was about 58 per cent., while the increase in 

 imports from the Philippines are about 90 per 

 cent. Nevertheless, most of the product went 

 to France, mostly to Marseilles, where the great 

 coconut-oil factories are largely dependent 

 upon the Philippines for their copra supplies. 

 France took $6,114,324 worth of the product in 

 the last fiscal year. Germany, particularly 

 Mannheim, takes an increasing quantity, while 

 Spain maintains a trade long established. 



THE TEXTILE FIBRE INDUSTRY 

 OF BRAZIL. 



With the world's source of cotton supply in 

 the main limited to the United States, and in 

 view of the reputed failures to develop the 

 cotton-growing industry in India and Africa 

 on a very large scale, it would seem that 

 Brazil will, within the next generation, 

 witness an extension of its cotton indus- 

 try, and -when such a time comes its cotton- 

 bearing trees will have their share of attention 

 in this respect. There are indigenous to Brazil, 

 and growing wild in certains region, two well- 

 known species of trees which are of interest to 

 the commercial world because of their possibili- 

 ties as producers of cotton fibre. Not the least 

 remarkable feature about these trees is their 

 occurrence in precisely those regions where it 

 has seemed to be impossible, or at least diffi- 

 cult, to grow ordinary cotton. No other coun- 

 try in the world possesses so large an area of 

 land which may be utilised for the growing of 

 cotton as does Biazil, and that in other areas it 

 is possible to cultivate trees for the production 

 of cotton fibres must appeal to the textile-pro- 



