4 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURAL REVIEW. 



tion process give a sugar equal in all respects to the best grade 

 of granulated cane sugar, and one finds a great deal of beet 

 sugar either mixed with cane sugar or marketed alone under 

 the. name of cane sugar. 



At the present time the beet-sugar industry has become so 

 important that more than eight million tons, or about one-half of 

 all the sugar produced, comes from this source. 



There is a greater consumption of sugar each year which 

 necessitates greater production either through larger areas, 

 heavier yields, or its manufacture from other sacchariferous 

 plants. The maximum in both area and yield have by no means 

 been reached, while in recent years a large number of sac- 

 chariferous plants have attracted the attention of various in- 

 vestigators throughout the sugar world, and this will in all 

 probability lead to a new source of supply. The most promising 

 of these plants is the sugar palm (Arenga saccharifera) . Ex- 

 tensive work was conducted on this palm by this Bureau and 

 reported in the May, 1914, number of the PHILIPPINE AGRICUL- 

 TURAL REVIEW. During the above-mentioned year an entirely 

 new method of juice clarification was elaborated which is ap- 

 plicable to the juices of various other palms as well as to that 

 of the sugar cane. 



In Bengal the wild date palm (Phoenix silvestris) has pro- 

 duced a low grade of molasses sugar for consumption by the 

 natives for a great number of years. The main obstacle en- 

 countered in making a good grade of sugar from this palm 

 has been caused by the difficulty of clarification and the sus- 

 ceptibility of the juice to fermentation. It is thought that the 

 above-mentioned process may bring this palm into greater 

 prominence in the sugar world. 



There are also the Palmera (Borassiis flabelliformis) of 

 Southern India, and the Nipa (Nipa fructicans) of the Phil- 

 ippines. Either of these could undoubtedly be made profitable 

 sugar producers. The latter is used commercially only as a 

 source of alcohol. 



There is practically no limit to the number of sacchariferous 

 plants one might name in the Tropics and subtropics, but many 

 of these do not contain a sufficient percentage of sucrose, or 

 else they contain such a high percentage of impurities that the 

 low yield of sugar and the high cost of manufacture make their 

 use unprofitable. 



