Edible Products. 



410 



November, 1911. 



the south of Tayabas and not subject 

 to the violent wind storms which not 

 infrequently sweep across that province, 

 did not do better than this. 



It will also be noted that I have not 

 allowed for any returns except from 

 copra. It goes without saying that it 

 would be advantageous to instal a 

 coconut oil mill as soon as the output of 

 nuts in any given region was sufficient 

 to justify it. What appears to be a 

 reasonably conservative estimate of the 

 profits from a coconut oil plant with a 

 capacity of 1,000 piculs a day, running 

 at its full capacity 300 days in the year, 

 shows them to be approximately 120,000 

 dollars per year. It would take the 

 copra from eleven 2,500-acre plantations 

 to keep such a mill running, but the 

 estimate above referred to is based 

 on the purchase of copra in the open 

 market, and whatever copra was requir- 

 ed in excess of that produced on the 

 plantation or plantations of those 

 interested in the mill cculd be obtained 

 in this way. In fact, a mill might at 

 any time be established at Manila or 

 some other port of entry and be operated 

 at a profit prior to the time when the 

 plantations became productive, so that 

 advantage could be taken of its facilities 

 from the moment nuts were produced. 



Actual experience has shown that 

 there is a material loss of the oil in 

 copra during its shipment from the 

 Philippine Islands to the United States 

 or to European ports, this loss being 

 due in large measure to the fact that 

 the mould which grows on copra thus 

 shipped decomposes the oil, 



A food product resembling butter, and 

 used as a substitute for it, is now manu- 

 factured in large quantities from coco- 

 nut oil. An important source of in- 

 creased revenues might unquestionably 

 be found in the manufacture of this 

 product, and of soap, candles, and 

 shredded coconut. 



Both coconut oil and all other coconut 

 products from the Philippine Islands 

 are, under existing tariff regulations, 

 admitted to the United States free of 

 charge, which would place a factory 

 manufacturing them at a decided ad- 

 vantage over similar factories in other 

 countries so far as concerns the United 

 States market, which is very important. 



Figures as to the cost of a coconut oil 

 plant of the capacity above mentioned, 

 and as to the profits which may be 

 anticipated therefrom, will be furnished 

 upon application. 



Dean C. Worcester, 



THE SOY BEAN. 



By Victor Deschamp, 

 Analyst, Agricultural Laboratory. 



(From the Journal of the Department of 

 Agriculture of Victoria, Vol. IX., Part 9, 

 September, 1911.) 

 Despite the favourable reports pub- 

 lished in numerous scientific and trade 

 publications throughout the world, the 

 cultivation of the Soy Bean has not yet 

 been seriously undertaken in Victoria. 

 Although it is unlikely that the bean 

 can be grown in this State cheaply 

 enough to compete with the Chinese 

 pioduct, principally on account of the 

 difference in the cost in labour, it should 

 be a remunerative crop. As a fodder 

 crop, as a soil renewer, and as a green 

 manure, it has been successfully grown 

 in countries other than its native 

 habitat and under varying climatic 

 conditions, As there are over 300 known 

 varieties and hybrids, some of these 

 should be suitable for different parts of 

 this State. 



Economic Uses. 

 The home of the Soy Bean is in 

 Manchuria and Japan, and it has been 

 grown there in large quantities for 

 centuries, but until a few years ago no 

 attempt was made to grow it elsewhere 

 on a commercial scale. In the countries 

 named a small part of the oil, 6 to 8 per 

 cent, only, was extracted by primitive 

 presses, and the residual oil cake used 

 as a fertilizer. The Imports of cake to 

 Japan in 1905 were 182,000 tons, while in 

 1909 the enormous amount of 600.000 tons 

 was exported to Japan alone, showing 

 that its use as a fertiiizer is greatly on 

 the increase, in spite of competition with 

 artificial fertilizers. The estimated total 

 crop in Manchuria for 1909 was over 

 1,500,000 tons of shelled beans. 



The first large cargo of soy beans con- 

 signed to England arrived in Hull in 

 March, 1909, and amounted to 5,200 tons, 

 and before July of the same year, 

 contracts had been made for the 

 delivery of no less than 200,000 tons, to 

 be utilized for oil extraction and the 

 residual cake for cattle food. According 

 to the London "Times" of 19th July, 

 1910, the requirements of the following 

 season in England were estimated at 

 over one million tons, Ac the minimum 

 price of £6 10s. per ton, this means a 

 business of £6,500,000, but it is doubtful 

 if the beans can be bought under about 

 £8 per ton, owing to shortage of supply. 

 That an industry of such vast propor- 

 tions should spring up in a few years 

 ndicates that all the opportunities of 



