October i, 1891,1 
THE TROPICAL AQRIOULTURIST, 
255 
“ DESICCATED COCOXUT," 
Very few in the island have an adfcjuate idea 
of the extent to which the industry in desiocated 
coconut has been developed in our midst. A 
short time ago we referred to the increasing ex- 
ports ; and siuoo then the Chamber of Commerce 
has reopgniciGd the importance of this latest pro. 
pared or manufaolurod product by including it 
in the list of etsple exports in their weekly 
table. Our reterenoe to the industry as carried 
on in the Veyangnda establishment of the Orient 
Produce Company, Limited, Dematagoda Mill?, &o., 
has brought us a letter from a London merchant 
interested in the matter, who roundly declares that, 
like so many other branches of enterprise 
in Ceylon of recent years, the preparation of 
desiccated coconut is certain erelong to be 
overdone. “ We are a’armed," he writes, “ at 
the pro?peot of so many going into the 
mannfaolure, knowing that it must mean loss to 
all. The consumption of such an article is, as 
you might suppose, not unlimited, and any con- 
siderable increase in what is now being shipped 
would exceed the requirrraonta of all the omlets 
yet difcovorcd. It so many are really starting ths 
manufaciure, as stated in your issue, the pro- 
duction will be so much iu excess of requirements 
that the liglit for survival must end in iho ruin of 
some of Iho competitors." This is a point on 
wbioli we are unable to express an opinion, seeing 
that our pessimistic correspondent has given us 
no clue to the market demand or to the present 
rate of consumption as compared with what it was 
some years a o. But this much is certain — that, 
for good or evil, the preparation and export of 
doaiooalcd coconut frout Ceylon has increased, is 
increasing, and is bound still further to increase 
lor soino time to come. A great impetus has 
been given to the preparation, wo understand, 
through the discovery lliat Mr. -lohn Brown's patent 
"Desiccator” — the well known tea-drying machine 
— afforded with a little adaptation the very best 
moans of drying and desiooating the sliced coconut 
kernels. Tito process al ogether is kept ns eecrot 
as possibla ; but it is understood that the first step 
is to slice up the kernels, and for this putposa 
there seems to to a machine in use (previously 
used for slicing the kernels preparatory to 
grinding in oil-mnkiug) willi an ingenious 
arrangement of knives that cut up the coconut 
kernels very quickly. Then comes the drying ; 
and lor this purpose, as we have said, the 
desiccators aro found so suitable that in one mill 
some hall-dczcn are said to bo at work ; while, ss 
agents, tho Colombo Commercial Company arc 
favoured with not a few further orders. To the 
older establishments at Veyangoda and Dematagoda, 
there have lately been added arrangements at 
Kollupitiya Mills (Ucs-ire. Lee, Hedges tfe Co.) and 
at Negombo (Mr. Akbar’s) for tho preparation of 
desioQatcd coconut. On the other hand, to counter- 
halanco the effect of this news, wo are able to 
inform our Loudon mercantile friend that a demand 
for the new product in Australia is springing up. 
We had an advertisement the other day from a 
large Melbourne firm, iutcrided to arraogo for a 
purobasing agency for this article. Though to some 
extent olassed as ** confeotioDery," desiccated coco- 
nut must surely, to a considerable extent, be 
regarded as a “food product,” and as suoh we have 
some reason to look for a wide and expanding 
demand suoh as, we trust, may ensure u profitable 
market for all that Ceylon may turn but for many 
years to oomo. The exports so far recorded in the 
Chamber’s table areas follows 
From 22iid June to 7tU Sept. 1891-559,628 lb. 
Cacao in Rangoon. — The Ilangoun Gazette of 
Aug. 28th says: — We have just seen a large 
0000 a pod, which Dr. Stephens has received 
from Ceylon from his father's properties. Dr. 
Stephens presented tho Agri-Hortioultural Gardens 
with a fine cocoa plant, over five feet high, but 
this unfortunately died and ho baa now obtained 
s-'ed for the Gardens, and will be happy to obtain 
some for anyone who wishes to grow cocoa. He 
has also some oofiee and tea plants, which ho 
will give to anyone who will grow them care- 
fully. Cocoa requites little cultivation and tho 
trees are decidedly ornamental. 
Tka pok HonsEs, — A correspondent sends us tho 
following from the Graphic 
Afternoon tea has become such an iustilutioii with 
Englieh people that even their horses ate to adopt 
the h.vbit. Competent authorities assert that tea is 
the bo^t^ restorative for horses, tho animals being 
quite revived after a bard day's work by a drink of 
weak tea with milk and sugar. 
Oiir correspondent writes regarding the above : — 
“Ob ye go Is and little fishes I It actually makes 
me convulsed with happy thoughts of the near 
tu'.ure. Take courage now, oh yo Knights of the 
Tea Bush ; don't ye mind tho oroaking brokers 
in Mincing Lane. Send your muck and flood the 
market! Horse troughs to your rescue I ! I It won't 
be a bad idea to agitato for a horse census in tho 
United Kingdom ; wo might start one in Caylou too, 
not excluding jaw-bones! Eh! Mr. Editor'?" 
Tubkisk LigooMCB The British Consul at Bus- 
sorali, in an interesting report on the growth of 
the liquorice plant ou the banks of the Tigris and 
Euphrates soys that these great rivers in the part 
where tho root is found flow Ihroug’n flat, treoloea 
prairies of uncultivated and nearly uninhabited land. 
For three months of the year hot winds blow, and 
the temperature reaches lOldeg. For six months 
the olimate is moderate and salubrious, and ftr three 
months bleak and wintry, tho thermometer going 
down to itOdeg. at night. The liquorice plant is 
a small shrub, w'ith light foliage, growing to about 
threo feet high, where its roots oau reach the water 
It grows without any ouhivalion. No lands aro 
leased for tho purpose, and no objection is made 
to its being collected. It is found in abundance 
from Olesiphon, ton miles from Bagdad down to 
Kut-ul-Anara, half way between Bussorah and 
Bagdad. It grows on red-earth soil, and also on light 
almost sandy, soil, where tho wood is best, provided, 
it has plenty of water, and the ground is not more 
then 50 yards from the actual river or stream. Only 
one firm works it in Bagdad, and it is well known 
that the business is a prosperous one. The wood, 
after being once dug up and cut grows again better 
afterwards. The time of collecting is, generally 
speaking, during tho winter, but it is possible all 
tho year round. The root when dug is full of water, 
and roust bo allowed to dry, a process which takes 
the best part of a year, especially in hot weather. 
It is then sawn or out into small pieocs six inches 
to a foot long. Tho good and sound pieces arc 
kept, and the rotten ones aro need for firewood. 
It ia then shipped in native river boats to Bussorah 
whence it is shipped in pressed bales to London, and 
again from there to America, where it ia need largely 
in the manufacture of tobacco. The Oonsul thinks 
the trade is capable of expansion. The demand 
in America is great, and shipments are easily 
disposed of. After sorting there still remains some 
useless wood in the bales, perhaps 7 per cent 
From figures supplied by tho Bagdad firru einagoi 
in the business, it seems that the total net cosv of 
a ton of liqnorma root laid down in London ig 
about id,— London 'Jhmes, 
