Part 3

Second in value only to the copra, this product has been allowed to go to waste. The rejected husks are thrown together in immense heaps, which are finally burned and the ashes, exceedingly rich in potash and phosphoric acid, are left to blow away.

As the commercial value of the fiber is greater than the manurial value of the salts therein, it is economy to utilize the fiber and purchase potash and phosphoric acid when needed to enrich the soil.

Highly improved and inexpensive power machinery for the complete and easy extraction of the fibers of the husk, either wet or dry, is now rapidly superseding the tedious hand process once in such general use. Good patterns of machinery are shown in the "husk-crushing mill" (fig. 1) and in the "fiber extractor" (fig. 2). The first breaks, crushes, and flattens out the husks by means of powerful, fluted metal rollers and, in the second the broken husks are fed over a revolving drum set with teeth especially devised for tearing out the fiber from the entire mass. Finally, it is fed into one of the many forms of "willowing" machines, which reduces the mass to clean fiber, which is now ready for grading, baling, and shipment. The residual dust and waste from this operation may be used as an absorbent for liquid manures, and ultimately returned to the plantation. The yield of fiber varies from 12 to 25 quintals of coir and 4 to 7 quintals of brush fiber per 10,000 average husks. In the Philippines the nuts yield a large amount of fiber and a relatively small percentage of chaff and dust. With improved machinery and careful handling, 18 quintals of spinning coir and 5 quintals of bristle fiber from every 10,000 husks is a fair estimate of the product.

As the cost of manufacture is generally rated at one-half the selling price, and as we must add a further charge of 20 per cent to cover freight and commission, we have resulting from the sale of the 23 quintals, or 2,300 kilos, at £16 per English ton, a balance of £11 11s. per hectare.

But there are other considerations which should not be overlooked. The husks of 10,000 cocoanuts will withdraw from the land 61.5 kilos of potash and 3 kilos of phosphoric acid, and the restoration of the full amount is called for to compensate for the growing wants of the tree, in addition to that withdrawn by the crop. The necessary fertilizers are worth, approximately, 5 1/2d. per kilo, making a further reduction of £1 8s. and leaving as a net profit £10 3s., or, reduced to American money, nearly $50, gold, per hectare.

The machines above referred to will cost $800, gold, and $1,200 additional will purchase and house the power necessary to operate them. Such a plant will work up 1,000 nuts a day, and handle in a year the output of a grove of 30 hectares. With the addition of two or more fiber extractors the capacity of the plant may be doubled without material expense, and it should rather more than pay its entire cost in one year.

TUBA.

Tuba is the fresh or mildly fermented sap drawn from the inflorescence of the cocoanut.

There are no figures or data of any kind available as a basis for an estimate as to the importance of this product, but its extent may be inferred from the fact that the outlying groves about Cebu, Iloilo, and the larger Visayan towns are practically devoted to the production of tuba, and not to the manufacture of copra.

Tuba is collected from the unexpanded blossoms as soon as they have fairly pushed through the subtending bracts. To prevent any lateral expansion, the flowers are tied with strips of the green leaf blade and then, with a sharp knife, an inch or two of the extreme tip is removed. The whole flower cluster is now gently pulled forward until it arches downward. In a day or two the sap begins to drip and is then caught in a short joint of bamboo, properly secured for the purpose.

As a healthy tree develops at least one or more flowering racemes every month, and the flow of sap extends frequently over a period of two or more months, it is not uncommon to see a number of tubes in use upon one tree.

The workmen usually visits the tree twice daily to collect the liquor drawn during the preceding twelve hours in the larger tube, which he carries upon his back. He slices daily a thin shaving from the tip of the flower, in order that the wound may be kept open and bleeding. This process is kept up until nearly all of the flower cluster has been cut away, or until the sap ceases to flow.

More than a liter a day is sometimes drawn from one tree, and 5 hectoliters is considered a fair annual average from a good bearing tree.

In its fresh state tuba has a sweetish, slightly astringent taste; but, as the vessels in which it is collected are rarely cleansed, they become traps for many varieties of insects, etc., and it is, therefore, not a very acceptable beverage to a delicate stomach. When purified by a mild fermentation it is far more palatable.

A secondary fermentation of tuba results in vinegar, and on this account, chiefly, so much space has been devoted to this feature of the industry. The vinegar so produced is of good strength and color, of the highest keeping qualities, and of unrivaled flavor. Its excellence is so pronounced that upon its inherent merits it would readily find sale in the world's markets; and, although the local demand for the tuba now exceeds the production, its conversion into vinegar will probably prove the more profitable industry in the future.

Spirits are distilled and in some places sugar is still made from the flower sap; and, while the importance of these great staples may not be overlooked, their commercial value as products of this tree are relatively insignificant.

MINOR USES.

In addition to eighty-three utilities described by Mr. Pereira, it is in very common use in the Philippines for:

1. Cocoanut cream. The freshly ground fruit, reduced to a pulp and strained, is consumed in that form or made into cakes with rice. It makes a delicious and nutritious food. According to Dr. W. J. Gies, in experiments lately published, its nutritive value is due to 35.4 per cent of oil, about 10 per cent of carbohydrates, and 3 per cent of protein. The amount of cellulose (fibrous matter) is only 3 per cent, and its digestibility is easy when the mass, by grating, is reduced to a fine degree of comminution.

2. The "milk" or water is used sparingly as a beverage. It is also fermented and converted into inferior vinegar.

3. The hard shell is used as fuel. When calcined, it produces a black, lustrous substance, used for dyeing leather.

4. The same shell, aside from many uses quoted by Pereira, is used here for every conceivable form of cup, ladle, scoop, and spoon.

5. From the tough midrib of the leaf, strong and beautiful baskets of many designs are made, also excellent and durable brooms, and from the part where the midrib coalesces with the petiole pot-cleaning brushes are made.

6. The roots are sometimes used for chewing, as a substitute for Areca. They also furnish red dyestuff and with one end finely subdivided may be used in making toothbrushes.

7. The leaves and midribs, when burned, furnish an ash so rich in potash that it may be used alone in water as a substitute for soap or when a powerful detergent is required.

8. The fiber of the husk is used extensively by the natives for calking boats.

9. The milk is used in the preparation of a native dish of rice, known as "casi." It is an excellent and highly prized dietary article, prepared with rice or in combination with chicken or locusts.

10. The oil, melted with resins, is an effective and lasting covering for anything desired to be protected from the ravages of white ants.