June  i,  1893.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
1 11 
THE  COCONUT  INDUSTRY  OF  CEYLON. 
A contemporary  headed  some  information  the  other 
day  about  coconuts  in  a way  whioh  desoribed 
this  branch  of  planting,  as  “ the  largest  commercial 
enterprize”  of  the  island.  But  this  is  a mistake. 
Coconut  cultivation  can  be  rightly  desor  b d as  the 
largest  or  most  extensive  agricultural  or  planting 
en?erpr:'z6,  seeing  that  at  least  500,000 — perhaps. 
550  000— acres  are  covered,  if  not  cul  ivated  with 
this  palm.  But  a very  large  if  not  the  greater 
pri  portion  of  the  produce,  is  consumed  locally  in 
the  food  and  the  personal  and  household  require- 
ments of  the  people,  so  that  the  proportion  which 
enters  into  our  commerce,  manufactures  or  export 
trade  though  very  considerable  in  all  its  various 
branches  of  cocorut  oil;  copra,  punaok ; coir  fibre, 
yarn,  rope;  coconuts  and  desiccated  cooonuts— do 
not  in  the  aggregate  make  up  nearly  so  important  a 
total  as  does  our  ono  product  tea.  We  shewed  this 
in  reviewing  the  Customs  Accounts  for  1892  a few 
weeks  ago;  but  the  information  may  be  repeated 
here  as  of  more  than  passing  interest : — 
We  sent  away  in  value  in  1892: — 
Coconut  oil  564,450  cwt.,  or  7,025,512  gallons 
valued  at  R1  per  gallon  (chiefly  sent  to 
India,  U.  Kingdom,  U S.  A.,  & Con. 
Europe)  ...  ...  ...R7, 025, 512 
Coconuts,  sent  to  U.  K.  (Inria,  Suez  and 
Port  Sivd,  &c)  384  bags  and  No.  367,043  423,591 
Coconuts,  Desiccated  ...  ...  369,778 
Cocouut  sbelli  (to  India)  ...  ...  29,743 
Copperah  169.073  cwt.  (to  France,  U.  K. 
Iniia  America  &c.)  ...  ...  1,625,085 
Poonack  to  (U.  K.,  C n.  Europe  and  Indii)  857,761 
Arrack,  coocmtu  spirits  (to  India)  88,874  gal.  100,230 
Cocouut  nfters  and  latbs  ...  ...  195 
Coconut  Husks  ..  ...  . . 45 
Coir  (U.K.,  Australia,  India,  & Con.  Europe) 
45,404  cwt.  ...  ..  ...  340,530 
Coir  rope  (Straits,  U.  K.,  India  Australia 
and  other  countries)  8,907  cwt.  ...  111,338 
Coir  yarn  (U.  K.,  India,  U.  States,  France, 
_ Australia,  &c.)  105,678  cwt.  . . 634,067 
Coi-  manuactures  ...  ...  ...  6,309 
Cadjan  ..  ...  ..  60 
Total  ..  E11, 524,755 
The  value  hern,  it  is  true  13  taken  from  the 
Customs  Acoounts  which  are  probably  far  below 
the  market  prices.  But  allowing  for  this,  there 
oan  be  no  comparison  with  tea,  the  value  of  which 
exported  in  the  same  year  was  not  less  in  the 
same  return,  than  B32,525,993.  Here  then,  we 
must  find  our  largest  commercial  enterprise.  But 
the  export  trade  in  coconuts,  in  all  its  branches, 
undoubtedly  comes  second  ard  gives  employment 
to  a very  large  number  of  people.  This  may  be 
partially  judged  from  an  interesting  statement 
supplied  to  a contemporary  by  a Colombo  manu- 
facturer of  desiccated  coconut,  showing  the  wooder- 
ful  inorease  in  the  export  trade  last  year  over  1891 
and  giving  the  equivalent  of  oil,  copra,  • desiocated,’ 
&c.  in  nuts  : — 
Statements  Showing  Number  op  Coconuts  Shipped 
oh  Shipped  in  Manufactured  Form  for  two  years. 
1891.  Nuts. 
Oil  shipped  109,521  cwt  equal  to  163.808,400 
Copperah  shipped 45,660  cwt  do  11,415,000 
Coconuts  shipped  6,699,403 
Desiccated  coconut  shpd. . 1,416,3301b  do  4,248,990 
Total  nuts  186,171,793 
1892.  NiK 
Oil  shipped  550,977  cwt  equal  to  220,390,800 
Copperah  shipped  134,590  cwt  do  33,647,500 
Cocouuts  shipped  9.719,386 
Desiccated  coconuts  shpd.  .3,849,724  lb  do  11,549,172 
Total  n«ts  275,306,958 
The  shipments  are  taken  from  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  figures,  and  the  calculations  made  as  fol- 
lows Oil  6J  candies  of  copperah  to  one  ton  ; 1,250 
coconuts  to  a candy  equal  to  400  to  a ewt.  of  oil. 
Copperah  1,250  cuts  to  a candy  equal  to  250  nuts  to 
a ewt  of  copperah.  Desiccated  Cocouuts  30  lb  to  a 
100  nuts,  tay  3 nuts  to  1 lb. 
The  aggregate  it  will  be  observed  is  over  275 
millions  of  nuts.  This  calculation  has  come  under 
the  notice  of  the  gentleman  who  is  generally  re- 
garded as  perhaps  the  very  first  planting  authority 
on  coconuts  in  the  island,  and  he  has  been 
good  enough  to  favour  us  with  the  following  state- 
ment of  his  view  of  the  coconut  industry  as  it 
stands  at  present.  Our  correspondent  first  takes 
up  the  question  as  to  whether  the  manufacture 
of  desiccated  coconut,  Btarted  within  the  past 
few  years,  has  had  much  to  do  with  raising  the 
price  of  coconuts.  Ho  does  not  think  so,  save  in 
the  districts  where  the  mills  are  located.  He  then 
goes  on  to  make  very  interesting  calculations  as 
to  the  total  area  under  coconuts  and  the  total 
production  in  the  island  ; but  it  is  time  we  quoted 
what  he  says  : — 
The  recent  and  present  high  price  of  coconuts 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  desiccating  business,  but  ia 
due  to  the  great  demand  for  oil  consequent  upon  the 
deficient  supply  of  tallow,  and  to  the  anticipated 
short  crop  of  coconuts  expected  during  this  year. 
The  desiccating  industry  cannot  have  affected  the 
price  of  nuts  generally  throughout  the  island : but 
that  it  has  raised  the  price  from  one  to  three  rupees 
per  thousand  within  a radius  of  say  25  miles  from 
Colombo  I am  strongly  inclined  to  believe.  The 
farther  those  mills  go  afield  for  the  nuts  they  require 
the  higher  will  be  the  cost  of  transport,  and  hence 
within  the  distance  I have  named  there  is  keen  com- 
petition between  them  and  the  copra  driers  ; and 
prices  have  in  consequence  ruled  higher  than  they 
would  have  done  had  there  not  been  this  competi- 
tion. But  then  this  onlv  affects  the  small  number 
of  nuts  required  for  desiccating  purposes  and  for 
export,  altogether  about  20,000,000.  Mr.  Figg’s  figures 
are  interesting  as  showing  the  number  of  nuts 
utilised  for  manufacturing  into  oil,  &c.  If  we  take 
the  population  of  Ceylon  at  three  millions,  and 
allow  five  persons  to  a family  we  get  600,000  families. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  each  family  will  use  at  least 
one  nut  per  day,  this  for  one  year  will  give  219  mil. 
lions.  To  this  can  be  safely  added  25  millions  for 
drinking  purposes.  We  then  got 
Used  in  manufactures  ..  275,000,000 
Used  in  households  ..  219,000,000 
Used  for  drinking  . . 25,000,000 
Total  519,000,000 
or  to  be  within  the  mark  say  500,000,000  nuts  al'S 
yielded  annually  by  the  bearing  coconut  trees  in 
Ceylon.  Allowing  20  nuts  per  tree  we  get  25  million 
trees ; but  to  them  have  to  be  added  the  trees  not 
yet  in  bearing,  and  those  set  apart  for  toddy  drawing. 
What  their  number  is  it  would  be  rather  difficult 
to  ascertain,  but  I should  think  that  for  the  former 
7 million  trees  and  for  the  latter  4 millions  would  be 
within  the  mark.  This  would  give  a grand  total  of 
36  million  trees  which  at  70  trees  to  the  acre  would 
give  say  514,000  acres.  These  figures  1 believe  to 
be  rather  under  than  over  the  correct  number,  and 
am  inclined  to  think  that  40  million  trees  are  about 
the  number  now  growing  in  Ceylon. 
It  is  extremely  satisfactory  to  U6  to  have  suoh  a 
reckoning  as  the  above  independently  worked  out 
and  for  this  reason,  Up  to  I860,  the  highest 
estimate  ventured  on  was  250,000  acres  under 
coconuts  in  Ceylon.  Feeling  sure  this  was  below 
the  mark,  we  offered  » much  higher  estimate  and 
about  1887  put  the  total  at  500,000  acres,  raising 
the  same  in  our  latest  “ Handbook  ” to  550.000 
acres.  Then  as  regards  the  annual  production 
in  nuts,  we  wrote  in  August  1891 : — “We  believe 
that  the  number  of  oooouuts  produced  ia  a gcod 
