MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 591 



bushels of a fine white article we are obliged to admit 

 that the tropics now have another first-class crop plant. 

 In passing it may be mentioned that the sugar palm 

 seems to be more at home in the Philippines than else- 

 where; it begins flowering at 4 to 6 years of age, and 

 continues to produce from one to four tappable (male) 

 flower racemes each year for at least 15, and probably 

 in well-cared-for plantations, more than 25 years. 



Sago. Sago is produced locally in the Agusan Valley 

 of northern Mindanao to a limited extent. The vast 

 swampy forests of this palm, of which there seem to be 

 two varieties, could and should yield thousands of tons 

 annually. This palm fortunately sprouts from the 

 stump, a stand therefore merely requiring to be thinned 

 out from time to time. 



Almdciga. This resin, which belongs to the kauri 

 class, is the product of a coniferous tree (Agathis 

 alba, (Lam.) Foxworthy), found throughout southern 

 Mindanao, the islands of Negros, Mindoro, and in the 

 higher districts of Luzon. The tree, known locally as 

 Adlangao, Sateng, Baltik, etc., attains a large size and 

 prefers mountain slopes. It is most abundant at 

 between 400 and 1,000 metres elevation. The yellowish 

 or brownish amber-like semi-transparent resin "accumu- 

 lates as a hardened produce on the trunk after incisions 

 are made in the bark, or at the base of the trunk, 

 where it is deposited in the ground through ruptures 

 made usually near the junction of the roots and the trunk. 

 The latter deposits remain in the ground after the tree 

 dies and decays and are discovered by collectors, who 

 thrust a sharp pointed stick in the ground to determine 

 their location." 1 



The collecting is usually done by the hill people, or 

 " non-Christian tribes," who usually dispose of the gum 

 at a very low price to Chinese middlemen who generally 

 ship it to Singapore. The amount exported is in the 

 neighbourhood of 800 to 1,100 tons per annum; the 

 " assessed value " is 10 pesos per 100 kilograms (i 

 for 220 lb.). Almaciga resin is used in the production of 



1 H. N. Whitford : "The Forests of the Philippines," Part I. 



