8 
The above table may serve to show to what extent the co¬ 
conut industries have been modified in recent years. In 1905 
more than half the crop was converted into oil sold localIj^ or 
exported to Mauritius. The oil industry has steadily declined 
from 1905 to 1910, and the nuts required by the coprah manu¬ 
facturers have risen in number from 2 millions in 1905 to over 
18 millions in 1910. The year under record (1912 ) shows the 
greatest number of nuts (19 millions) converted into coprah, and 
also the highest total crop (nearly 25 millions) ever produced in 
the Colony. It is also worth noting that the soap industry is 
also declining at the same time as the oil industry, no other oil 
than coconut oil being produced in the Colony for soap manufac¬ 
ture. To what extent the coconut industries have been modified 
in recent years may be gauged from the fact that in 1905 the 
price of 1000 nuts amounted to lis 20, while it is at present 
more than double, viz : Rs 40 to 50. The only drawback is the 
difticulty experienced by the peasant proprietors and by the 
poorer classes in obtaining a supply of poonac (residue of coco¬ 
nut oil) which was formerly so useful to them as food for cattle, 
horses, pigs, and poultry. This has an important bearing on 
economic conditions in the Colony, especially when the shortage 
of poonac is coupled with the deficiency of oil as a raw material 
for soap manufacture. I think that the only way to get out of 
the difiiculty would be to grow, in localities unsuited to the co¬ 
conut tree, another oil plant such as palm oil, which produces 
nuts containing a large percentage of good saleable oil and a 
residue (poonac) which, although inferior to coconut cake, may 
yet serve as food for cattle, pigs and poultry. The palm nut 
oil would serve equally well to replace coconut oil in the manu¬ 
facture of soap, and full advantage would still be taken of the 
high prices for coprah on the European market by not attempt¬ 
ing to keep larger proportions of the coconuts for oil manufac¬ 
ture. 
In connection with this, it has already been ascertained 
that oil palms grow well in this Colony, where palms form a 
considerable part of the native jungle. Seeds have already been 
introduced, and the first plants have come into bearing in the 
fifth year. New varieties were introduced this year (1912) from 
Lagos, and a request to obtain seeds of the best variety [Lisomhe) 
has been made to the authorities of Southern Nigeria. 
I do not think it would be wise to leave the oil and soap 
industries to their fate, because there are very few industries 
flourishing in the Colony, where so many hands are unemployed 
and where the population is increasing so rapidly. The esta¬ 
blishing of new industries, besides affording good object lessons 
and training work for the coming generation, would relieve the 
Colony from the singular position of exporting its poonac and 
being at the same time obliged to import the same or a substi¬ 
tute at great cost, for the proper feeding of the domestic animals 
and cattle. 
It is also important to recollect that coprah is sold at higher 
prices every year, and many things go to show that the rival 
(Soy bean) oil will not easily replace the excellent edible fats 
produced from the coconut palm. Efforts are however being 
made in this direction and the cultivatioii of Soy beans is taken 
up in several couutries in tlie tropics, and the creation of new 
and improved varieties contemplated. 
The coconut planters must not, for this reason, remain 
idle. It is a satisfactory sign that the manuring of coconut 
palms on modern lines is being contemplated by the larger 
proprietors and Companies. To encourage this movement, the 
Government has decided to place free of charge a certain 
amount of chemical manures, especially “nitrolim” at the dis¬ 
posal of planters who intend starting methodical manuring on 
experimental plantations. The scientific manuring of coconut 
palms is likely to be the most beneficial agricultural improve¬ 
ment in this Colony for many years to come. Phosphates are 
easily obtainable from the guano islands at a very low price 
(Rs 20 per ton). Green manuring can help to produce nitro¬ 
genous fertilisers at a cheap rate, and it is hoped that fish 
