MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 589 



of Cagayan, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bulacan, and 

 Capiz may be expected gradually to increase their output. 



With the new Mines process of making high-grade 

 sugar from the various palm saps, there is a splendid 

 field for the manufacture of at least several thousand 

 tons per annum of nipa palm sugar here. Vast swamps, 

 covering hundreds of square miles, exist in the above- 

 mentioned provinces and with the exceedingly cheap 

 water transportation of the tuba or sap, from the tide 

 marshes to the distilleries, there should be a splendid 

 profit in this self-maintaining crop. Although this 

 palm is strictly a salt-water species, it is stated on 

 good authority that the drought of 1912-13 did actually 

 affect the tuba yield of the nipa swamps, the explanation 

 being that although the roots were, of course, unaffected 

 the leaves normally require a certain amount of rain 

 for their best activity. 



Coconut tuba to the amount of over 42,000,00 litres 

 (about 8,500,000 gallons) is produced here annually. 

 Most of this is fermented and distilled into a low-grade 

 alcohol. With the newly discovered (Hines) process, 

 however, it will be possible to turn a portion or all of 

 this tuba into a high-grade sugar. The sucrose con- 

 tent is about 15 per cent, of the fresh juice; in other 

 words, about 3^ quarts of juice will produce i Ib. of 

 sugar. The buri (Corypha elata) abounds in Mindoro, 

 Pangasinan, Batangas, Cebu, and the island of 

 Mindanao; this palm also is tappable to a larger extent 

 than is usually realized. The crude methods of manu- 

 facture in use by the local inhabitants, however, turn 

 out only a dark-coloured, syrupy sugar, which is not 

 at all suitable for export. When it is considered that 

 a mature tree will yield 20 to 30 quarts of sap containing 

 over 15 per cent, of sucrose per day over a period of 

 two to three months, some idea of the tremendous profit 

 obtainable from an acre of these wild palms may be 

 realized. 



A simple process has been devised recently by which 

 it is possible to produce more than twice as much sugar 

 per acre from the Kaong, or sugar palm (Arenga 

 sacchariferd), as from sugar-cane. Details of the 



