204 PHILIPPINE PALMS 
days, sometimes one, the sap begins to flow steadily and rapidly. 
In either case, the tree can of course be tapped but once, and 
death ensues in a short time. Gibbs observed two trees tapped 
by the first method. In one case the flow continued for four 
and one-half and in the other for three and one-half months. 
An old tree, tapped according to the second method, gave a 
flow for 132 days. This tree produced a total of 2,699.65 liters 
of sap or an average daily flow of 20.45 liters. The maximum 
flow recorded from this tree for a day was 45.2 liters. Another 
tree, about 12 years old, produced sap for 55 days. Fresh cuts 
should be made at frequent intervals, as the rate of flow may 
be thus temporarily increased as much as 50 per cent. The 
rate also varies according to the thickness of the slice removed; 
at least, if the exudation is from the top of the trunk. Gibbs 
found that a daily decreasing rate of flow could be changed to 




| ; | | ; 
Tree a ene | ADPFOR: Daily Dace Total 
| num- | Method of tapping. ae a ae | sugar sugar of sap | sugar 
ber. cnee! tow. | content. yield. | flow. yield. 
= “ i 
Years. Liters. | Per cent.| Kilos. | Days. | Kilos. 
| dv-2 | Intlorescenceicut: == 8-2 =——- 30 20 14 2.8 | 100 280 
lee Inflorescence cut _...------_- 30 30 8 2.4 185 | 324 

| Se l\Stem ent! a eee 12 40 | 9 3.6 50 180 
: t | 

an increasing one by augmenting the thickness of the cuttings. 
Table IV gives data on the sugar content and yield of sap from 
three palms. 
The fresh sap is too sweet to be palatable as a beverage, but 
makes a popular cider when fermented. 
As it flows from the tree and for a short time after, the sap. 
is colorless, odorless, and neutral or slightly alkaline. After 
standing, a viscous, followed by a putrid, fermentation devel- 
ops when no precaution is taken to prevent it. The sucrose 
begins to invert in a few hours and the process is complete in 
about thirty hours. A comparatively small yield of alcoho! re- 
sults from the spontaneous fermentation of the sap; a greater 
portion of the reducing sugars being changed by the viscous, 
putrid, and other fermentations than by the alcoholic. 
Sugar is made from the buri sap, which is boiled in ordinary 
kettles and sold as a confection. The boiling requires about six 
hours, after which the kettle is removed from the fire and the 
contents stirred until the sugar granulates. It is then ladled 
