Copra, or the dried meat of the coconut, has now become one of the most important exports of the islands, which lead the world in its production. The table on the opposite page shows the rapid increase in copra exports.
Hemp Exports
| ToAll Countries | ToUnited States, including Hawaii and Porto Rico | ||||
| Fiscal Years | Tons | Value in U. S. Currency | Percentage of Total Exports | Tons | Value in U. S. Currency |
| 1899 | 59,840 | $6,185,293 | 45.1 | 23,066 | $2,436,169 |
| 1900 | 76,709 | 11,393,883 | 52.6 | 25,764 | 3,446,141 |
| 1901 | 112,215 | 14,453,110 | 34.6 | 18,158 | 2,402,867 |
| 1902 | 109,969 | 15,841,316 | 58.3 | 45,527 | 7,261,459 |
| 1903 | 132,242 | 21,701,575 | 54.7 | 71,654 | 12,314,312 |
| 1904 | 131,818 | 21,749,960 | 58.8 | 61,887 | 10,631,591 |
| 1905 | 116,733 | 22,146,241 | 59.6 | 73,351 | 12,954,515 |
| 1906 | 112,165 | 19,446,769 | 59.5 | 62,045 | 11,168,226 |
| 1907 | 114,701 | 21,085,081 | 61.7 | 58,389 | 11,326,864 |
| 1908 | 115,829 | 17,311,808 | 52.7 | 48,814 | 7,684,000 |
| 1909 | 149,992 | 15,833,577 | 51.0 | 79,210 | 8,534,288 |
| 1910 | 170,789 | 17,404,922 | 43.6 | 99,305 | 10,399,397 |
| 1911 | 165,650 | 16,141,340 | 40.5 | 66,545 | 7,410,373 |
| 1912 | 154,047 | 16,283,510 | 32.3 | 69,574 | 7,751,489 |
| 1913 | 144,576 | 23,044,744 | 43.3 | 63,715 | 11,613,943 |
Copra Exports
| ToAll Countries | ToUnited States, including Hawaii and Porto Rico | ||||
| Fiscal Years | Tons | Value in U. S. Currency | Percentage of Total Exports | Tons | Value in U. S. Currency |
| 1899 | 14,047 | $656,870 | 4.7 | —— | —— |
| 1900 | 37,081 | 1,690,897 | 7.8 | —— | —— |
| 1901 | 52,530 | 2,648,305 | 10.0 | 103 | 4,450 |
| 1902 | 19,687 | 1,001,656 | 3.6 | —— | —— |
| 1903 | 97,630 | 4,472,679 | 11.2 | 61 | 9,173 |
| 1904 | 54,133 | 2,527,019 | 7.0 | 174 | 9,231 |
| 1905 | 37,557 | 2,095,352 | 5.6 | 205 | 14,425 |
| 1906 | 66,158 | 4,043,115 | 12.3 | —— | —— |
| 1907 | 49,082 | 4,053,193 | 11.8 | 1,110 | 108,086 |
| 1908 | 76,420 | 5,461,680 | 16.6 | 2,968 | 228,565 |
| 1909 | 105,565 | 6,657,740 | 21.1 | 4,714 | 287,484 |
| 1910 | 115,285 | 9,153,951 | 22.9 | 5,538 | 447,145 |
| 1911 | 115,602 | 9,899,457 | 24.9 | 12,241 | 1,030,481 |
| 1912 | 169,342 | 16,514,749 | 32.8 | 24,160 | 2,339,144 |
| 1913 | 113,055 | 11,647,898 | 21.9 | 7,460 | 720,245 |
An extraordinary drought, which seems to have extended throughout the Far East, is largely responsible for the decrease in exports during the last fiscal year, its effect having been felt long after it had passed.
Coconut oil is very extensively used in making high-grade soaps, and is now also employed in the manufacture of butter and lard substitutes. Their quality is excellent, they keep well in the tropics, and being non-animal in their nature are not open to the æsthetic or religious objections which some people entertain toward oleomargarine and true lard. Lard made from coconut oil is of course especially appreciated in Mohammedan countries. There is a steady demand for the shredded coconut used by confectioners. The press-cake which remains after the oil has been extracted is a valuable food for fattening animals. A rich, palatable and nutritious “milk,” on which “cream” rises in a most appetizing manner, is made by wringing out fresh shredded coconut in water. Whether or not it can be preserved and utilized as a commercial product remains to be seen, but the experiment would be worth trying.
Thus far coconut cultivation has been conducted in a very haphazard way. In fact, the existing groves are hardly cultivated at all. Nuts or young trees are put into the ground in whatever fashion seems good to the individual planter, and are invariably set too closely. There may be a little initial cultivation, but usually nothing is done except to cut down weeds and brush with a bolo, and often even this is neglected. The trees, once established, are left to shift for themselves, and are soon contending with each other for root space and air. The owner cuts notches in their bark in order to facilitate climbing. Water gathers in them and starts decay.
If under such circumstances coconut growing is so profitable that to-day plantations can hardly be bought at any price, what will happen when carefully selected seed nuts are put out at proper intervals and growing trees are given high cultivation? In considering the profits resulting from coconut culture, estimates are sometimes based on twenty nuts to the tree per year, while forty are considered a very liberal allowance. This number is even now largely exceeded throughout extensive areas in the Philippines under the unfavourable conditions above described. The effect of good cultivation can be determined, in a measure, by the condition of trees which chance to be so situated that the ground near them is kept clean. The results of fertilization can be estimated by observing the condition of trees standing near native houses. I recently endeavoured to have the nuts on a series of such trees counted from the ground. This proved impossible. In fact, it was necessary to cut out a bunch of nuts in order to make it possible for a climber to scramble over the great masses of fruit, and get among the leaves. I therefore bought the nuts on several trees and had them thrown down. The trees were in a little Manobo village, and the ground around them was cultivated. The two which seemed to be bearing most heavily could not be climbed, as bees had taken possession of them. The third best tree had three hundred ninety-seven nuts on it; the fourth only three hundred twenty-three, but its output had been reduced by tapping a number of its blossom stalks for tuba. All the nuts were very large. The meat from an average specimen was carefully dried and we found that one hundred fifty-six such nuts would make a picul of copra. A common estimate of the average number of nuts required for a picul is three hundred.