S. E. ANNETT. 383 



or the sugar house. In one large grove a narrow-gauge railway is 

 used for collecting sap. The change in the actual process of making 

 sugar is described as revolutionary. This is chiefly due to the sup- 

 planting of the iron kettles for boiling the sap by ingenious and cheap 

 modern evaporators. These are long shallow tanks having parti- 

 tions from side to side and open at alternate ends placed in them at 

 intervals of 8 to 10 inches. The sap, whose flow is carefully regulated 

 from a storage tank, enters the evaporator at one end and flows 

 slowly across the pan from side to side, around the partitions until 

 it reaches the far end. By this time it is reduced to the required 

 density. 



Improvements in methods of firing have been so great that 

 consumption of fuel is much more economical than in the early days. 

 It is understood that in some districts small vacuum pan plants are 

 in use. 



There is one great advantage which the date palm sap has over 

 that of the maple. The former contains 10 to 14% of sugar, where- 

 as the latter only contains about 3%. The average annual yield 

 of sugar per tree is in the case of the date palm about 22 Jibs., 

 whereas the maple only yields about 3lbs. Further, one acre of 

 land will accommodate many more date palms than maple trees. 



At the same time maple sugar and syrup are luxuries and fetch 

 much higher prices than date sugar. The maple sugar sells at 9 

 cents (equal to 4| annas) per pound, whereas date gur only brings 

 in to the cultivator half an anna per pound. 



We will consider proposed improvements in the date sugar in- 

 dustry under various heads. 



I. AGRICULTURE. 



Cultivation. Gardens, especially when young, should be well 

 cultivated. They should be kept ploughed up in the hot weather 

 as this will prevent to some extent loss of soil moisture. 



Planting. A regular system of planting should be followed 

 so as to get the optimum number of trees per acre. The author 



