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COPRA. 
There  appears  to  be  great  variation  in  the  quality  of  copra 
placed  on  the  market,  despite  the  fact  that  a good  quality 
product  is  always  in  satisfactory  demand.  The  copra  pro- 
duced in  Ceylon  and  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  where 
large  European  soap-making  and  other  firms  have  exten- 
sive interests,  is  always  of  high  quality,  and  commands  the 
best  price.  Copra  from  the  Malay  States,  however  sells  at 
a secondary  price,  and  is  reported  to  have  frequently  been 
prepared  in  an  unsatisfactory  manner.  While  the  best 
copra  at  Singapore  sells  for  about  $7.50  per  picul  (133^2 
lbs.),  the  market  price  of  lower  qualities  is  often  $1.00 
per  picul  below  this.  These  lower  grades  are  usually  prepared 
on  estates  owned  and  managed  by  Malays  and  Chinese. — The 
Agricultural  News,  Barbados. 
GUAVA  JELLY. 
A press  bulletin  has  recently  been  received  from  the  Florida 
Agricultural  Experiment  Station  on  Guava  Jelly  from  which  the 
following  is  quoted : 
Undiluted  guava  juice  consists  of  over  90  per  cent,  of  water, 
about  5 per  cent,  of  sugars,  and  a small  percentage  of  pectin  and 
acid.  It  also  contains  some  substances  which  give  the  color  and 
flavor  to  the  jelly  made  from  it.  Pure  guava  jelly  usually  con- 
tains about  20  per  cent,  of  water,  about  75  per  cent,  of  sugars,  and 
the  rest  is  pectin,  acid,  etc.  During  the  boiling  of  the  mixture 
of  juice  and  cane-sugar,  the  acid  acts  on  the  sugar,  and  changes 
part  of  it  into  invert  sugar,  so  that  is  forms  a sirup ; and  if  there 
is  enough  acid  the  sugar  will  not  crystallize  out.  This  strong 
sirup  causes  the  pectin  to  set  as  a jelly.  The  pink  color  is  deep- 
ened by  longer  boiling,  or  by  more  acid. 
When  boiling  the  jelly,  the  temperature  rises  as  more  and  more 
water  evaporates.  To  secure  a uniform  jelly,  it  is  desirable  al- 
ways to  stop  at  the  same  point.  This  can  best  be  done  by  the  use 
of  a glass  thermometer.  Such  an  instrument,  reading  to  300°  F., 
can  usually  be  bought  from  a drug  store.  In  a series  of  tests  it 
was  found  that  the  best  jelly  was  made  when  the  boiling  was 
stopped  at  235 0 F.  It  is  usually  necessary  to  stop  the  boiling 
for  a moment,  when  using  the  thermometer,  because  of  the  bubbling. 
If  the  same  amount  of  water  is  always  used  in  cooking  the  ripe 
guavas,  and  the  same  proportions  of  juice  and  sugar  are  taken, 
and  if  the  temperature  which  is  found  to  give  the  best  jelly  is 
measured  with  a thermometer,  it  will  be  possible  to  turn  out  a 
uniform  product  year  after  year. 
