'7^0 
Sytf^Umni to ih* " Tr0fUal AfntuUv,ri»t," [May 1, 1»04, 
on the sandy beaches at the outlet of mountain 
streams and bears fruit abundantly. It is found 
in Southern Florida, 20,000 trees having been 
planted on Long, Lignum-vitae and Sands keys 
alone, while examples 80 feet high and 50 years 
old are found at the mouth of the Miami Kiver. 
Grows to 100 feet. 
Its extensive geographical distribution is 
accounted for by the fact that the tree growing in 
•iich close proximity to the sea, the fruits falling 
on the beach are washed away by the waves and 
afterwards cast upon some far distant shore, 
where they rapidly vegetate. It is in this way 
that the Coral Islands in the Indian Ocean have 
been covered with these palms. 
Coir fibre appears in the form of large, stiff, and 
very elastic filaments, each individual of which is 
round, smooth, very elean, resembling horse- 
hair. It possesses a remarkable tenacity and curls 
easily. Its colour is a cinnamon brown. These 
filaments are bundles of fibres, which, when 
treated with the alkaline bath and ground in a 
mortar, are with difficulty separated by the 
needles for microscopic examination. 
The individual fibres are short and stiff, their 
walls very thick, notwithstanding which this 
thickness does not equal the size of the interior 
canal. The surface does not appear smooth ; it is 
often sinuous and the profile appears dentated. 
The diameter is not very regular. The points 
terminate euddenly and are not very sharp. The 
walls appear broken in places as if they were 
pierced with fibres, corresponding with the tissues 
of the broken sections. 
The fibre of the coconut palm is contained in the 
husk of the nut, which is composed of a mass of 
coir, as the separated fibre is called. The husks 
are removed by forcing the nuts into sharp iron or 
wooden spikes fixed in the ground, one man being 
able to remove the husks from 1000 nuts daily. 
The proper time for cutting the fruit is in the 
tenth month, as the fruit must not be allowed to 
get thoroughly ripe, for the fibre becomes coarser 
and more difficult to twist, and must remain longer 
in the soaking pits, which is a disadvantage, as 
the fibre is rendered darker. These pits in some 
of the islands are merely holes in the «and, and the 
nuts lie under the influence of the salt water a 
year, kept from floating away by large stones 
placed over them. Sometimes the nuts are soaked 
in freshwater tanks, and as the water is not 
changed, it becomes in time very foul and dark- 
coloured, which affects the colour of the coir. 
After soaking the fibre is readily extracted by 
beating. Fresh water is said to weaken the fibre, 
and, in fact, too long soaking will produce this 
result in any event. The coir from the islands 
ofKadamat, Kelton and Chetlat in the Laccadives 
is said to be of the best description, and the 
manufacture into cordage is done entirely by 
women. After it is taken from the pit and 
sufficiently beaten, the extraneous matter is 
separated from the fibrous portion by rubbing 
between the hands. After it is thoroughly cleaned 
it ie arranged into a loose rowing preparatory to 
being twisted, which is done in a very ingenious 
manner between the palms of the hands, so that it 
produces a yarn of two strands at once. According 
to the old native system of treatment, the nuts 
sometimes remained in the pits eighteen months. 
The best commercial coir of today is obtained by 
better methods, and the soaking is aCcompliihed 
in tanks of stone, brick, iron, or wood, the water 
being warmed by steam, whieh shortens the 
duration of the treatment very naaterially. Where 
machinery is used (in the after processes), the 
husks when sufficiently soaked are passed 
through a crushing mill, which flattens and 
crushes them ready for the extractor or breaking 
down machine. 
In the latter the fibres are completely disinte- 
grated, and are then passed through a " willowing " 
machine, to free them from dust and refuse. It is 
calculated that when treated in England 10,000 
husks will produce 4o to 50 cwt. of spinning 
fibre and 9 to 18 cwt. of brush fibre. In the process 
of separating the fibre, the following commercial 
qualities are produced ; The mat, or long fibres 
used for spinning purposes ; the shorter, or more 
stubborn fibres (bristles) for brooms or brushes ; 
the low or curled fibre for stuffing cushions, and 
the dust or refuse for gardening purposes. When 
dyed black, the tow has been used as a substitute 
for horse-hair. A singular use was proposed a 
short time ago for coconut dust or refuse. Taken 
before it is quite dry and subjected to great 
pressure, it is capable of forming plates of varying 
thickness, like mill board, only much more brittle. 
These boards, if used as backing for iteel plates 
of ironclads, swell up on being punctured below 
the water line and soon close the orifice. If 
really effective, such plates could be produced at a 
trifling cost, for thousands of tons of coconut refuse 
float away annually down the rivers in India and 
elsewhere. 
Three large coast coconuts will yield 1 lb. of 
eoir, measuring about 130 feet, whereas ten small 
inland nuts are required for 1 lb., but it will give 
over 200 feet. Two lbs. of such yarn, averaging 
from 70 to 75 fathoms, are made up into eooties, 
of which there are fourteen in a bundle, averaging 
about a maund (28 lbs.). A Mangalore candy 
(360 lbs.) will thus be the produce of 5,600 nuts, 
and should contain 20,000 fathoms (20,000 feet) 
of yarn. 
Coir fibre is used by the Spaniards cf the South 
Seas instead of oakum for calking their vesrels, 
and it claimed that it will never rot. Coarse 
cloth is sometimes made from the fibre which is 
used for sails. The principal use of coir, however, 
in the commercial world is for cordage and matting. 
" The character of coir has long been established 
in the East, and is now in Europe, as one of the 
best materiale for cables, on account of its light- 
ness as well as elasticity," Ships furnished with 
coir cables have been known to ride out a storm 
in security, while the stronger made but less elastic 
ropes of the other vessels snapped like pack 
thread. Coir cables were used extensively in 
the Indian Seas until chain cables were in- 
troduced. It is rougher to handle and not so 
neat looking as hemp rigging, but it is well 
suited to running rigging where lightness and 
elasticity are desired, as for the more lofty sheets ; 
it, however, is too elastic for standing rigging. 
In vessels of 600 tons it is generally used for lower 
rigging. Tests of coir cordage by Dr. Wright gave 
the following results : Hibiscus cannabinus broke 
with 190 lbs. strain, coir broke ith 22i Iba., but 
