^26 



E. J. BUTLEtt. 



date, which grows wild but is scattered. In the upland Taluks 

 the palmyra is even commoner than in the Delta, in places reach- 

 ing forest density ; the coconut and arecanut are rare. 



No other t]'ee in these districts approaches the palmyra in 

 economic value, A complete account of its uses would occupy 

 many pages. An ancient Sanskrit poem proff^sses to enumerate 

 eight hu])(lred and one ! Every part of the tree is turned to 

 account. The wood is universally employed in building construc- 

 tion in the villages. The base of the trunk, hollowed out, is used 

 as a canoe in the numerous creeks in ttie Delta : il also forms 

 an excellent water carrier for short lifts. Several different kinds 

 of fibre are obtained from the leaves, stalks, fruit and interior of 

 the stem. For one of these, extracted by beating from the leaf 

 stalk, a large demand has sprung up recently, and it is extensively 

 exported from the East Coast. The roots are used in medicine; 

 the leaves for baskets, mats, fans, small buckets and a host of 

 other every-day appliances, as well as for writing on. As a food 

 plant it is of considerable importance, the parts eaten being the 

 fruits both young and ripe, but chiefly the young shoot obtained 

 by germinating the nuts. These are heaped together in seed- 

 beds, covered with soil and left for three or four months, when the 

 shoot is found to be from six inches to a foot in length. For a short 

 period of the year these shoots form the staple food of some of the 

 lower classes. From the inflorescence toddy is obtained, which 

 is drunk both fresh and fermented, or made into vinegar, or distilled 

 to make arrack.' It is also extensively used in the manu- 

 facture of jaggery or raw sugar, over 400,000 palmyra palms being 

 tapped for jaggery in the Godavari District according to the Im- 

 perial Gazetteer. This is chiefly in the upland Taluks. Prob- 

 ably the greatest value of the tree after the production of toddy 

 and the supply of food from the young shoots is in the provision 

 of an ample and inexpensive material for thatching. Its leaves 

 are almost the only thatch available throughout the Delta. A 



I The Abkari revenue from toddy (including tree tax and rentals) averaged over 3 lakhs 

 of rupees per annum between 1900 and 1903. This does not include revenue from country 

 spirits (Godavari District Gazetteer, Vol. II. 1906. p. 42). 



