When coconut oil was not used as an edible oil on the 
European markets, very little notice was taken of it hut at pre¬ 
sent it s sold at the extraordinary price of £60 a ton. In an 
article devoted to the conversion of liquid oils into fats Profes¬ 
sor Dunstan in Bulletin of Imperial Institute for November— 
December 1913 calls the attention of planters to the possibility, 
of raising the melting point of liquid oils and of transforming 
them into solid fats such as coconut oil (at the temperature 
prevailing in European countries). It appears that the pro¬ 
cess has emerged from the experimental stage and is adopted 
in Europe and America where cheap oil such as fish oil (very 
liquid) is converted into margarine (hardened oil). The reaction 
is very simple, the liquid oil being treated with hydrogen gas 
(produce electrolytically) which transforms oleic acid (liquid) 
into stearic acid (solid). 
The produce of cheap fat is bound to come as the hydroge¬ 
nation of the fish oils or other vegetable cheap oil results in 
the removal of the unpleasant odour and in the transformation 
of yellow liquids into snow white fats. It is already stated 
by Professor Dunstan that artificial edible fat can be produced 
at £26 a ton, that is to say £24 cheaper than coconut oil. It 
can be deduced from these facts that the demand for coconut 
oil is likely to fall in the near future. 
It is imperative that the cost of production of coconuts 
should be lowered in this Colony at a time when such prices 
as Es 60 a thousand nuts are paid, and a handsome margin of 
profit realized. Manuring and selection of seed nuts may not be 
easilv carried out in times of depression. Manures can at pre¬ 
sent be obtained very cheaply from local guano, seaweeds and 
leguminous plants. There is no reason for not using them. 
Selection cf seed nuts is also very easy. There are many varie¬ 
ties of coc mats growing in the Colony which are almost perfect. 
One of them is called grape coconut owing to the number of 
nuts born by each cluster (20—30). But there are very few 
trees ox this type all over the archipelago the rest being trees 
producing only two or three nuts per bunch. It should however 
be borne in mind that logically trees producing a large number 
of nuts are more exacting in their requirements as to quality 
of soil and that the best variety of coconut would defoliate in 
soils rendered sterile by improper methods of cultivation. The 
remarkable periodicity in the number of nuts or more properly 
speaking female flowers per tree per mensem should be carefully 
studied in the selection of seed nuts in order to solve the 
vexed question of how the crop in India, Ceylon, Seychelles 
&c., is far heavier from June to November than from 
December to May without putting the responsibility upon 
climatic factors which are not the same in the three locali¬ 
ties mentioned. From a tabulated return in my possession 
covering 1 1911, 1912, 1913, a maximum is reached in July 
and a minimum in February. The question of variety of 
trees in cultivation has almost surely much to do with this 
subject. The point is important as from information gathered 
during the last 6 years, a few tabulated returns show that 
the net profit per 1000 nuts is extremely variable on estates 
worked by the same proprietor and possessing the same kind 
of soil. The working expenses remaining about the same 
the net profit varies from Es 40 to Es 12 per 1000 nuts and I 
am told that the highest figure is given for the estate on which 
the selection of seed nuts has been practised for a long time. 
VI. 
The Vanilla Industry. 
The crop of vanilla for 1913 was even lower than that for 
last year and the lowest on record since 1895. It amounted to 
a little over 5 tons (11,264 lbs) of a declared value of Es. 85,697 
or Es. 17, per kilog. The prices are good after having been as 
low as Es. 7, per kilog a few years ago and these high prices 
have induced planters to resume vanilla culture which had 
nearly been abandoned during the years of draught which 
prevailed from 1901—1911. 
