to two and a half foot rope or banana fiber. This rope or 
plantain fiber is tied together at the ends and twisted into 
somewhat the shape of a figure eight in a horizontal po- 
sition. The climber places a foot in each loop; the free 
ends of his feet with his toes and the twisted middle por- 
tion of the rope serve to clasp the cylindrical stem like 
a clip. He first holds the stem with his hands, clasping 
the stem at his chest level, and pulls his legs up with the 
looped rope in his feet; at this level, he clasps the stem 
with his feet and the rope, releases the hold of the hands 
and pulls the whole length of the body up; then again 
holds the stem with his hands, releases the hold of the 
feet and pulls the legs up. These alternating holds and 
pulls each time cover over two to three feet of the stem. 
The climbers are so brisk and agile, that in seconds they 
will be at the crown of the tree of sixty to eighty feet 
in height. They go from tree to tree by swinging and 
catching the next tree, as the areca palms are slender 
and flexible, until the day’s harvest is completed and 
without climbing down. It is easy to take a swing, if one 
is bold enough, on an areca palm, but it is not possible 
on coconut palms as they are not slender and flexible. 
Once on the tree, the climber knows by experience which 
branch to cut and which not to cut. He removes the 
bunch and allows it to drop on the ground. The bunches 
are then collected. Often if there is thick vegetation be- 
low, the branches are caught in nets or lowered down by 
means of a rope. 
Semi-ripe fruits, that is, fruits to be used for curing, 
are easy to husk. The pericarp is cut into halves without 
bruising the seed and this is done by means of sickles or 
special sharp blades fixed into a plank. One end of the 
fruit is pushed against the blade, and when the blade 
enters half way into the pericarp, and before it reaches 
the seed, the fruit is pushed sideways which splits the 
(192 J 
