COMMERCIAL FIBERS OF THE PHILIPPINES. 27 



This palm thrives in almost any soil except marshes and grows to a 

 height of 30 to 50 feet. They bear hard, scaly fruits on a raceme which 

 terminates the stem, and after fruiting die. They are natives of Ceylon 

 and the Malabar coast. 



The Filipinos make sugar, sirup, and wine from the sap of the burri,. 

 and it also possesses medicinal properties. 



NIPA. 



(Nipa- fruticans, Thumb. ) 



It has been said that nipa ranks next to the bamboo as a plant of use- 

 fulness to the Filipinos. The plant belongs to the Palmacece and grows 

 almost exclusively in the marshy lands along the shores and in the deltas 

 of rivers. It does not grow tall, and the leaves are very similar in struc- 

 ture and color to those of the cocoanut. 



When the leaves are mature they are cut and the leaflets are stripped 

 from the stem. While these leaflets are still green they are bent in the 

 middle over a small piece of bamboo about two yards long, or shorter if 

 the particular use to which they are to be put demands it, and sewed near 

 this bamboo rib or stay with rattan or fine strips of bamboo, thus forming 

 a small mat with the ends of the leaflets loose. These are laid on the roofs 

 and sides of houses in the manner of placing shirgles upon a roof. 

 Almost everywhere in the Philippines, when durability and cheapness are 

 considered, perhaps no better substitute can be found. In situations 

 where the wind is not strong for a large portion of the year this material 

 will last five or six years on a roof of one-half pitch. On roofs of slighter 

 pitch the period of duration is less. Usually for siding the small mats 

 are battened down with small strips of bamboo. In this way they will last 

 for many years. 



An acre of marsh land well planted will yield about 50,000 of the 

 small mats per year. 



The young leaver of the nipa are used for making mats, hats, sails, 

 and rain coats. The leaflets are stripped into fillets and braided or woven 

 in the same way that pandan and burri are worked. 



Juice taken from the flower stem produces a wine or alcohol called 

 tuba highly esteemed by the natives, and the fruit is edible. 



RATTAN. 



( Calamus. ) 



Species of rattan are found in great abundance throughout the 

 mountainous and forest regions of the Philippines. They are climbing 

 palms, growing sometimes to a height or length of 300 feet. Almost no 

 investigations have been made upon these plants in the Philippines, but 

 specimens of both the "cane" and body rank well with those obtained in 

 Ceylon and the Malay peninsula. 



Rattan has not yet reached the importance of an article of export for 

 the Philippines, but no doubt, as the better species become known and 



