562 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb. !, 190L 
sfcoriri of pellets that are «ent to arrest liis retreat. 
A.not!ier few steps and another bird rises and 
then another, but the eye of the destroyer is too 
quiciC for tliese and a couple of wt^ll-directed 
shots lay them, with wings outstretched, on the 
water from whixjh they have just risen. The day 
lias now fairly begun and, only diversilied wiili 
the advent of an occasional land rail, a plump teal, 
or perchance a gorceous truncated plieasant, tiie 
fun becomes fast and furious and the bright eyed, 
elegantly marked little snipe plentiful in the 
hand of the nimble attendant. Indefatigably the 
Avork goes in till near noontide when heat and ex- 
haustion call for a halt under some spreading clump 
of bamboos or peasant's homestead, where, lost in 
<h'eamy indolence superinduced by the cool zeph- 
yrs rustling through the foliage, the eye wanders 
over the peaceful picture, the glorious tints of 
orange, rich brown, and amber. Then, the basket 
contains the modest lunch, consisdng of a little 
curry, a sandwich and some fruit with a bottle 
of some innocuous beverage. With such simple 
fare the true sportsman is content. But a truce 
to reveries — after an hour's rest he sets forth with 
renewed vitrour until the lengthening shadows 
remind him of the necessity of returning. Then 
as t.'.e day wanes he can reach home, tired and 
foot-sore, may bo, but feeling brimful of health 
and spirits, able to do ample justice to his dinner, 
conscious that he has worked for and shot his game 
like a man. — Bankok Times, Dec. 28. 
<s- 
HOW TO MAKE TEA— AND SELL IT. 
A correspondent, writing to a home medical 
journal, asks how tannin can be eliminated from 
tea. Vve presume the inquirer follows the usual 
method of allowing his view [brew ?] to draw ad 
infln. Whea will it dawn on tea drinkers that 
stewing is not the proper method of treating leaf : 
despite reiterated advice a cup of drinkable tea is 
yet unattainable in Calcutta, from the can of the 
peripatetic vendor of gin urn clia among the ghari- 
ivans to that dispensed by fair hands across 
boudoir tables. A tea kiosk at the Eden Gardens 
in the evening, and the neighbourhood of the Red 
Koad in the morn, might stimulate consumption 
and teach our tea concocters a lesson. Have our 
agency houses ever heard of Lockhart's coffee 
rooms ? or are they too genteel t— Indian Planters,' 
Gazette, Jan, 12. 
i <» ■ 
COCONUT OIL INDTSTRY OF THE 
PHILIPPINES. 
ALSO SOAP, CANDLES, TANXhRIES, AND OTHER 
INDUSTR[ES. 
{Special Correspondence to the New York Reporter. ) 
Iloilo, P. I., Oct. 13. 1900. 
The new adrriinistration of affairs in the Philip- 
pine Islands has brought about many new and im- 
portant changes in the industries of the former un- 
settled archipelago. This Spaniards always managed 
to keep the people of the country in sQch a turmoil 
that the owners of 
THE LARGE COCONUT SROVES, 
never considered it safe to operate anything more 
than miniature oil-producing plant in connection 
with their immense groves of coconuts. The pro- 
prietors of the plantations and the operators of the 
plant in which the coconuts wore pressed for the 
purpose of securing the oily materials therein, were 
Bubjocted not only to heavy taxtation, but were 
constantly in danger of destiuctlon by raiders, looteri 
and incendiaries. Tour correspondent has interviewed 
very many former wealthy owners of immense coco- 
nut groves and copra preparing establishments, who 
are now poor because of various forces of insurgents 
or revengeful Spaniards who burned the buildings 
and desiroyed the trees, ^'vith the advent of the 
new administration, however, not only is peace as- 
sured to these industrial pursuits, but the taxation 
13 not so great as before, and the proprietors have 
some chance to make a good income from the busi- 
ness. In fact, some of the parties who have recently 
taken hold of the coconut oil industry in the Philip- 
pines are well on the way to success and pros- 
perity. Evidently there is a grand opening here for the 
investment of capital in the immense tracts of coco- 
nut lands that may be found everywhere in the islands. 
These lands are often without ownership, a"d when 
owners appear, they can be bought off at ridiculously 
low prices. I have seen miles and miles of coconut 
trees, all dourishing in first-class order, sold at the 
rate of about |1 per acre. 
The coconut lands are in the low and rich soil of 
the island, of which there is an abundance. The trees 
grow from 5i1 to 100 feet high, and the natives can 
depend upon collecting crops frequently for the pur- 
pose of securing the meat of the fruit, the milk, the 
fiber of the h^^dc, or the copia, the latter being ob- 
tained by cutting the meat into pieces and drying 
it. The oil is gotten by subjecting the meat, to 
pressure as wdl be noted later. On horseback I have 
ridden for days along stretches of country in which 
the coconut groves are closely joined, every tree 
of full size and bearing considerable fruit without any 
cultivation at all, for the natives never give any time 
or attention to the trees, and go near them only to 
gather the fruits. 
The natives 
GET AT THE FRUIT 
by ascending the tall trees by means of notches cat 
in the sides. They apparently walk up the trees with 
ease. Parties engaging in the copra or the coconut 
oil business in the Philippines make it a point to 
first hire about ten natives for each grove of from 
ten to fifteen :icres, and these natives are all capable 
of ascending tlie trees. They can be secured for ten 
cents per day. One or two other natives are needed 
to do a little cultivating and looking after the property. 
The process of getting 
THE VALUABLE OILS 
from the coconuts consists in first procuring the coco- 
nuts from the trees. The fruit is made into large 
piles in the groves and is collected by other natives 
who operate the bull carts. The nuts are now taken 
to the bamboo sheds of the groves, and usually an 
Ofvner of several miles of groves will have the sheda 
near the centre of ail of the groves, and he will 
there have his office. A number of natives are em- 
ployed at this point to remove the husks and the 
husks are by no means wasted, for they are spread in 
the sun for a few weeks until thoroughly dry, which 
causes the fiber to open, and loosen to such extent as 
to permit the coconut fibre workers to rip the fibre 
off and work it into strands for the making of cer- 
tain native yarns aud fabrics. The sale of the husks 
brings in quite an income yearly. On a few coco- 
nut plantations I noticed that the proprietors made 
quite a side issue by w irking the fiber themselves, 
operating several looms weaving fabiics which 
brought in good profits. After the husks are removed 
from the coconut the shells are broken and the meat 
removed by another set of natives, all working for the 
extremely low price of from ten to fifteen cents pet 
day and doing a good, full day's work at that. Further- 
more the natives calculate upon feeding and lodgin({ 
themselves at this low rate of wages, but a good pro- 
portion of their food comes from the coconut meat, of 
which they are fond. Most of the owners of the large 
groves also furnish quantities of rice for their help. 
As to lodging places, the natives drop to the floor or 
ground wherever they happen to be at dark and sleep 
