Dec.  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
39i 
SOME  FIBRE-YIELDING  PLANTS. 
THE  COCONUT  PALM, 
( Cocos  Nucifera.) 
TLe  ccconut  palm  is  at  the  present  day  cultivated 
j&rggly  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  exten- 
sively grown  in  tropical  India,  Burma,  CeyloD,  the 
Pacific  Islands,  and  even  in  Afr.ee. 
It  is  a graceful  tree  with  a cylindrical  straight 
stem  of  about  three  feet  in  circumference,  and 
generally  attaining  a height  of  from  sixty  to  eighty 
fe6t.  The  long  pinnate  leaves,  ten  to  fourteen  feet 
in  length,  are  forme!  in  a crown  on  the  top  of  the 
tree.  When  systematically  cultivated  the  coconut  is 
planted  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  apart,  and  comes  into 
bearing  in  from  seven  to  ten  yearp,  gradually  in- 
creasing in  its  production,  and  continues  to  thrive 
well  for  fifty  to  sixty  years- 
There  are  two  binds  of  fibres  obtained  from  this  palm, 
the  one,  the  most  important,  from  the  husk  of  the 
fruitp,  and  the  other  variety  from  the  base  of  the 
leaf-stalk. 
The  first  bind,  which  is  obtained  from  the  husks  of 
the  lruit,  has  a regular  demand,  and  is  put  to  a great 
many  uses,  in  coneequence  ot  which  certain  coconut- 
growing districts  carry  on  a thriving  trade. 
The  fibre  obtained  from  the  husk  is  known  as  co'r 
in  commerce.  Coir  is  obtained  from  the  husks  in 
various  ways:  of  these  two  are  very  important,  viz., 
one  by  crushing  the  husk  in  machinery,  and  the 
other  by  soaking  it  and  crushing  it  by  a hand  process. 
Tbe  quality  of  the  fibre  obtained  by  the  Laud  process 
is  generally  superfine  to  the  other,  and  this  in  its  turn 
depends  to  a great  extent  on  the  time  at  which  the 
nuts  are  plucked,  and  their  soaking  or  maceration  in 
a green  or  fresh  state  before  they  dry  up.  The  husk- 
ing of  ti  e nuts  themselves  is  very  expeditiously  done 
by  those  who  are  accustomed  to  tho  work,  a 
single  man  with  the  help  of  pointed  spike  fixed  to  tbe 
ground  husking  from  eight  hundred  to  a thousand  nuts 
per  day. 
The  maceration  is  done  in  ponds  or  pits  contammg 
the  water,  or  in  enclosures  in  streams,  or  sometimes 
the  sea.  In  each  case  the  husk,  divided  into  pieces, 
is  thrown  in  and  weighed  down  in  the  water,  and  in 
a month’s  time  they  get  thoroughly  soaked.  Next  the 
pieces  are  placed  on  a small  wooden  block,  and  are 
one  by  one  struck  with  a short  piece  of  heavy  wood 
mode  round,  till  the  soft  celluar  substance  is  removed 
and  the  fibre  remains  behind. 
Jn  the  case  of  crushing  by  machinery,  the  husks  are 
easily  soaked  or  macerated  in  water  before  subjecting 
them  to  ctushing.  This  system  tends  to  produce  a less 
elastic  and  spriDgy  fibre. 
Coir  was  known  in  Europe  as  a commercial  pro- 
duct lrom  very  early  years,  at  least  so  tar  back  as 
the  sixteenth  century,  but  a development  in  the 
manufacture  of  coir  goods  did  not  take  place  till 
after  the  great  Exhibition  of  1851.  The  specimens 
exhibited  there  drew  the  attention  of  many  capi- 
talists in  Eogland,  who  began  gradually  increasing 
the  number  of  articles  manufactured  out  of  this 
product. 
Europe  takes  in  this  fibre  in  two  forms,  one  cleaned 
fibre  and  the  ether  coir  yam.  It  should  bo  men- 
tioned that  before  the  fibre  is  ready  for  export  it 
has  to  be  combed  and  sorted,  for  the  hurk  of  the 
coconuts  contains  fibres  of  various  lengths  and 
textures.  In  this  process  of  sorting,  we  get  the 
coarse  fibres,  the  long  and  elastic  fibre?,  and  tbe 
short  and  woolly  fibres.  The  other  form  of 
export  coir  yarn  is  largely  made  in  Ceylon,  Cochin 
and  the  Malabar  Coast,  and  it  forms  a regular 
and  thriving  industry  in  some  of  the  villages  of 
these  districts.  Yarn  is  twisted  by  hand  from  the 
coir  by  drawing  cut  to  thick  strings  of  fibre  and  twist- 
ing them  : this  is  done  in  quite  an  expert  manner 
by  those  who  are  practised  to  the  work. 
Coir  and  yarn  from  Cochin  are  considered  to  be 
superior  to  any  produced  in  other  countries,  and  hence 
always  fetch  good  prices.  This  has  been  found  out 
by  investigations  to  be  to  a certain  extent  an  anomaly 
of l trade,  for  oftentimes  good  yarn  expoited  from  other 
countries  are  classed  as  Cochin. 
The  yield  of  coir  per  cut  or  tres  has  been  variously 
estimated.  Husks  from  forty  middle-sized  nuts  yield 
on  an  average  six  pounds  of  coir,  and  when  made 
into  yarns  thirty-five  fathoms  are  generally  made  out 
of  a pouud  of  fibre. 
In  Ceylon,  where  coconuts  are  cultivated  largely,  and 
where  a very  flourishing  trade  in  cooonut  fibres  exists,  a 
fine  yarn  is  made,  of  which  nearly  fifty  fathoms  go  to 
make  a ponnd. 
The  fibres  and  yarns  command  very  goo  1 prices  in  tbe 
London  market.  According  to  one  of  the  latest  reports, 
Cochin  coir  has  been  fetching  £19  to  £25  per  ton  good, 
£15  to  £19  common  ; Cochin  yarn  £26  to  £46,  whilst 
Indian  yarn  fetched  £21  to  £28  good,  £14  to  £22 
common. 
Coir  was  first  used  in  England  for  stuffing  mat- 
tresses; later  on,  table  mats,  fanoy  baskets,  bonnets, 
and  a variety  of  other  articles  were  manufactured  out 
of  it.  The  coir  or  fibre  is  made  sufficiently  fine  for 
the  loom  and  matting,  both  coloured  and  plain,  of 
different  textures,  are  made,  whilst  |in  combination 
with  wool,  fine  hearth  rngs  and  carpeting  are  made. 
Tbe  fibre  is  largely  nsed  in  making  brushes,  brooms,  &o. 
Tbe  value  of  yarn  in  the  manufacture  of  rope  was 
long  recognised,  and  is  considered  to  bo  one  ol  the 
best  for  cables,  as  it  resists  moisture  and  especially 
P6R  water  to  a considerable  extent. 
There  are  at  the  present  day  over  480,000  acres,  more 
or  less,  under  coconut  cultivation  in  various  parts  of 
tbe  'world,*  end  the  ever  increasing  demand  for 
the  products  of  this  tree  makes  its  cu'tivation  a pro- 
fitable undertaking. — Indian  Textile  Journal. 
VARIOUS  NOTES. 
Value  of  the  Indian  Tea  Industry. — A 
correspondent  writing  to  the  Englishman  points  out 
that  it  ho s been  estimated  by  tho  Economist  that 
in  tea  alone  in  Northern  India  fifteen  millions 
sterling  ha3  been  invested.  He  computes  that  tho 
Indian  tea  industry,  rot  including  Southern  India, 
represents  a capital  of  two  hundred  million  of 
rupees.  In  Southern  India  the  amount  of  money 
invested  in  planting  property  generally  must  be 
enormous,  for  it  is  well-known  that  one  firm 
alone  lost  in  the  Sampaji  Ghaut,  a comparatively- 
speaking  tiny  District,  even  when  it  was  at  its 
best,  not  far  eff  hundred  thousand  sterling.  It 
would  be  most  interesting  to  know  just  how  muoh 
sterling  money  the  various  estates  between  Koppa 
and  Comorin  represent,  and  further  what  sum  is 
annually  distributed  throughout  tho  different  dis- 
tricts by  planters. 
Planting  on  the  Nilgiris. — A friend  writeB  me 
from  the  Nilgiris: — Owing  to  thedroughtduring  Sept., 
we  had  a very  sharp  attaok  of  leaf  disease — one  of 
the  worst  known,  from  all  accounts.  But  the  late 
abundant  rains  have  driven  it  eff,  and  wo  are  now 
getting  a nice  flush  out.  Crop,  too,  is  ripening  fast, 
giving  a very  fair  quality  bean.  Unfortunately  the 
leaf  disease  and  drought  have  caused  a lot  of  blaok 
coffee  on  the  ends  of  the  branches,  one  estate  start- 
ing with  200  bushels  of  black  before  crop  had  actu- 
ally begun.  Tho  drought  and  rain,  too,  brought  out 
a fair  blossom  which  will  interfere  greatly  with  all 
our  work  next  year,  rendering  thorough  pruning  im- 
possible and  necessitating  taking  coolies  oS  for 
picking  when  they  ought  to  be  cattle-manuring. 
Labour  has  been  and  is  very  scarce  here  this  year, 
owing  to  the  railway  work  both  here  and  in  Mysore. 
Canareee  coolies  are  decidedly  rare  this  year,  and 
ths  local  coolies  being  able  to  get  10  annas  a day  on 
the  railway  naturally  go  there  in  preference  to  doing 
estate  work  on  EG  to  6-8  a month.  Consequently 
nearly  all  work  is  decidedly  behindhand.— 11  Croppy,” 
in  Madras  Times  of  Nov.  5. 
* We  should  think  a million  acres  would  bo  nearer 
the  mark, 
