38 The Philippine Journal of Science 1922 
No records seem to exist as to how, when, and where bakauan was first 
cultivated, but it is safe to say that the present planting methods have been 
in use for at least three generations. An evident reason for the cultivation 
is the large agricultural population on the level lands of Pampanga 
Province and the accessibility of the Manila market. 
In the municipalities of Macabebe, Guagua, Lubao, Sexmoan, and Orani 
there are a number of barrios along the rivers which have a population 
that divides its labor among the fishing, bakauan, and nipa industries. 
Table 3 shows us that the nipa juice is the cheapest source of 
alcohol available. It is also cheaper to produce alcohol from nipa 
than from grains or even from molasses, as it is not necessary to 
dilute the sap with water or even to seed it with yeast. Not 
only do the palm saps ferment readily, due to the wild yeast 
always present, but they ferment very rapidly so that the fer- 
mentation is often complete in less than twenty hours. The elim- 
ination of pure water necessary for dilution, pure yeast for 
seeding, addition of chemicals, and the shortening of the fer- 
mentation period all mean considerable saving in the production 
of the alcohol. 
There are at present only a few nipa districts utilized for the 
collection of nipa tuba as a source of alcohol. Most of these 
are in the nipa area on Luzon in Bulacan and Pampanga Prov- 
inces. This district extends along Manila Bay for about 32 
kilometers with an average width of 5 kilometers. A consider- 
able portion of it is controlled by various large distilleries. Only 
about 30 per cent of the total area of the district is at present 
utilized. Some of the nipa areas near Manila have been con- 
verted into fish ponds which seem to yield a greater income per 
hectare than does nipa at present. 
LABOR CONDITIONS IN THE NIPA SWAMPS 
The best managed nipales, or nipa groves, are divided into sections of 
about 1 hectare, containing from 700 to 800 producing plants in every 
hectare, each of which is assigned to the care of one or more men. Usually 
two men are required to handle 1 hectare and the work of cutting the 
plants, gathering and transporting the tuba to the distillery and the general — 
care of the grove is divided between them. Since the sap not only has a 
recognized commercial value at the distillery, but is also greatly prized by 
the natives as a beverage, a close watch by the guards is necesssary. 
The sap, as it drops from the flower stalks, is collected in hollow joints 
of bamboo. Each plant is visited daily and the sap brought to the distillery 
in bancas of light draught which the natives paddle in and out of the 
waterways. Sometimes the tuba is emptied into large earthenware jars 
and these are transported to the distille , and, again, it is emptied directly 
into the boat. A nipa leaf is cut and placed in the banca over the tuba 
to prevent undue slopping, and thus, more or less immersed in the partially 
fermented tuba, the boatmen make the trip. The time for gathering the 
- sap is in some measure dependent upon the tides, for many of the small 
