6o FOOD FOR THE TROPICS 



tapped imtil exhausted ; and in good ground will last ten 

 years and in poor ground four to five years. 



The pith of the trunk of the old tree is said to be equal 

 to the best sago. It is made into bread or boiled into thick 

 gruel, forming in some places a great part of the diet of the 

 people. It is believed to be highly nutritious. Roxburgh 

 considers it as palatable as the ordinary sago. 



Gamble says that the leaves yield kittul (salopa) fibre, 

 which is made into ropes, brushes, baskets ; and the fibre 

 from the sheathing leafstalk is used for making ropes and 



fishini^-lines. 



The sugar is prepared from this palm in the same way as 



that of the Palmyra Palm. 



Gumuti Palm 



{Arenr/a saccharifera) 



A native of India, Cochin-China, Philippines, South Japan, 

 Burmah, Orissa. It is called Anau (Penang and Sumatra) ; 

 Gula-malaka (Malay) ; Aren (Java) ; Kabong (Malacca) ; 

 Tsongli (Philippine Islands) ; Cay-duac (Cochin-China) ; 

 and Taung-ong or Langkap (Burmah). Generally cultivated 

 in India, Malacca, etc., for sugar, which is obtained in the 

 following manner.* One of the spadices is, on the first 

 appearance of fruit, beaten for three days with a small stick, 

 in order to determine juice to the wounded part. The 

 spadix is then cut a little way from its base, and the toddy 

 pours out into an earthenware pot or bamboo. In order to 

 make sugar (jaggery) the toddy is boiled to a syrup and put 



* As described by Simraonds in " Tropical Agriculture," p. 248. 



