AG The Philippine Journal of Science 
vino de coco is not a wine, but a distilled liquor containing from 
20 to 50 per cent of alcohol. 
There is more labor involved in obtaining the sap from the 
coconut palm than from the nipa because of the height of the 
- trees. To facilitate the collection bamboo poles are usually at- 
tached from tree top to tree top, forming bridges upon which 
the collector can travel from tree to tree without descending to 
the ground until his receptacle is full. Since the coconut blos- 
soms throughout the year the tuba season is continuous, and 
when one stalk is exhausted another is tapped. Usually not 
more than two stalks on a tree are tapped at the same time. 
The yield of sap.—The flow of sap varies with the age of the 
flower stalk, age and condition, of the tree, character of the soil, 
and climatic conditions. The rate of flow is less during the 
heat of the day than at night. A tree will grow about ten 
stalks annually, and each will run sap for about two months. A 
tree is in its prime when about 40 years old. An investigation 
of seven distilleries in Tayabas Province revealed the fact that 
the average daily production from 5,785 trees from April, 1909, 
to March, 1910, inclusive, was 0.65 liter per tree.*¢ 
Gibbs found, however, that trees when properly handled by 
a sufficient number of men would yield approximately 1.4 liters 
per tree daily. 
Composition of the sap ~ Breah sap in which no chemical 
change has occurred, taken from an average tree in its prime, 
will probably have about the following composition: 
Grams in 100 ce. 
Density 1.0700 
Total solids 17.5 
Acidity Trace. 
Ash ’ 0.40 
Sucrose 16.5 
Invert sugar Trace. 
Undetermined nitrogenous horegonede * ete. 0.60 
* Op. cit. 154. 
