All  modern  cocoanut-oil  mills  are  supplied  with  a  decorticator  armed
with  revolving  discs  that  tear  or  cut  through  the  husk  longitudinally,
freeing  the  nut  from  its  outer  covering  and  leaving  the  latter  in  the  best
possible  condition  for  the  subsequent  extraction  of  its  fiber.  This  decor-
ticator is  fed  from  a  hopper  and  is  made  of  a  size  and  capacity  to  husk
from  500  to  1,000  nuts  per  hour.
Easping  and  grinding  machinery  of  many  patterns  and  makes,  for
reducing  the  meat  to  a  pulp,  is  used  in  India,  Ceylon,  and  China;  and,
although  far  more  expeditious,  offers  no  improvements,  so  far  as  concerns
the  condition  to  which  the  meats  are  reduced,  over  the  methods  followed
in  the  Philippines.  Here  the  fleshy  halves  of  the  meat  are  held  by  hand
against  a  rapidly  revolving,  half-spherical  knffe  blade  which  scrapes  and
shaves  the  flesh  down  to  a  fine  degree  of  comminution.  The  resulting
mass  is  then  macerated  in  a  little  water  and  placed  in  bags  and  subjected
to  pressure,  and  the  milky  juice  which  flows  therefrom  is  collected  in
receivers  placed  below.  This  is  now  drawn  off  into  boilers  and  cooked
until  the  clear  oil  is  concentrated  upon  the  surface.  The  oil  is  then
skimmed  off  and  is  ready  for  market.
