156 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
VINEGAR AND STARCH PRODUCTION 
In the Cavite province of the Philippine Islands the ‘*kaong’”’ 
sap is converted into vinegar . One quart of the sap with 
proper oxidation will give approximately 1.8 quarts of 4 
per cent vinegar. The sap is collected in the same manner 
as for sugar except that the panahods are not gathered as 
often nor is there any effort made to prevent fermentation 
upon collection. 
For starch production the Philippine farmer selects the 
so-called ‘‘males,’’ these being the semi-sterile types which 
in most eases produce only the abortive female flowers. This 
type is evidently never fertile and consequently never pro- 
duces mature fruit, the flowers usually dropping off in the 
form of hard, hollow shells. (The first three spikes produced 
upon the garden plant were of this kind.) These spikes are 
usually cut off as soon as they appear, so as to retain the 
valuable material in the trunk, which otherwise may de- 
teriorate. f 
To test the degree of ripeness for starch it is customa 
to chop a deep notch at the base of the trunk. If the tree 
is ready it is chopped close to the ground. The main part 
of the trunk is then cut into blocks which are again cut into 
smaller pieces and pounded in a wooden or stone mortar 
until reduced to a fine meal. This is then placed in vats 
-and washed thoroughly to separate the starch grains. In 
order to further purify the starch it is subjected to various 
changes of water, and, being heavier than the impurities, 
it readily settles to the bottom. It is then collected and 
after being dried in the sun is ready for market. The re- 
maining residue is boiled to a thick gruel and used as food 
for hogs. 
HEDGES 
The clipped, formal hedges are a common sight in St. Louis, 
being used to separate one small lawn from another and to 
lend a certain amount of seclusion. The unity and the 
harmonious effect of the whole street is lost, however, by this 
chopping up of the greensward into small individual patches, 
and the hedge in the city might better be confined to the larger 
lawns and to back-yards, where a live fence is much more 
attractive and quite as serviceable as the dilapidated wooden 
structure usually seen. Upon larger places the beauty of 
the hedge is not always manifested by its straight lines, as 
often a certain distinction is added to the landscape by the 
variety of form which it is possible to inject into hedge 
planting. 
