The Friendly Coconut
p. 43 · Read in the full issue
From Our Own Correspondent.
New Caledonia, July 16.
IF I were asked what was the most use ful thing on a plantation, I would say the friendly coconut. Apart from its value as copra, it is really splendid food for all domestic animals and pets, and, if the shell is taken off carefully, all kinds of useful articles can be made out of it; after the rough surface is taken down with sandpaper, it rivals ebony in colour and polish. Ash trays, which never burn, bowls for sweets and small flowers, ladles, etc., can be very beautifully made.
One can make splendid paint brushes and scrubbing brushes from the fibre from the nut, and our best garden brooms are
made from the backs of the leaf, which, when torn off, equal whalebone for strength and elasticity.
The authorities seem to realise the value of these trees for it is forbidden to cut down coconut palms on one’s property without first receiving permission from the local gendarme.