SUGAR 59 



(sugar) by placing it in large pots on a perforated dome, 

 with a strong wood fire underneath. The toddy when 

 boiled becomes a dark brown, half viscid, half solid mass of 

 crude sugar, and, when still warm, is poured from the pans 

 into earthenware pots, in which it is stored, and will keep a 

 very long time. Seven to ten pounds of toddy produces 

 two pounds of crude sugar (gur). Fifty thousand tons of 

 sugar is annually produced from this and other palms in 

 Bengal. Sometimes the toddy, before fermentation, is sold 

 for drinking. 



The leaves are used for making mats, baskets, bags, 

 brooms, and fans. The leafstalks are beaten and twisted 

 into ropes. 



Mari Palm 



{Cari/ota urens) 



Called in Bombay the Hill Palm. In J\Ialacua and 

 Borneo, Nibong ; Mhar-mardi, etc. (Telegu) ; Conda- 

 panna, etc. (Tamil) ; Shunda-pana (Malay) ; and ^linbo 

 (Burmese). 



This tree is highly valuable, yielding during the hot 

 season immense quantities of toddy — sometimes 8u pints 

 in twenty -four hours, and continuing to flow for a month. 

 The juice is a pleasant drink before it ferments. The trees 

 are tapped when fifteen to twenty-five years old, and the 

 tapping goes on for eight months in the year, but is stopped 

 during the rainy season. Besides bruising and binding, 

 the spathe, which is called " koti," is heated to make the 

 toddy flow. The trees are not allowed to rest, but are 



