716 



as a remedy for the bites of centipedes and as a cure for ulcers, 

 and when burnt they yield a supply of salt; hats and cigar 

 cases are made of them in India. The leaf-stalks are used in 

 floating logs in the Sundribuns of Bengal, and as fishing floats 

 <Watt, Blatter, seq.; Blanco, I.e.) and in the Museum there 

 is a sample of paper-stuff, from the Bally Paper Mils, India 

 <India Office, 1898). 



The trade in " Golpatta " leaves in the Sundribuns amounts 

 yearly to about 135,000 tons (Gamble, Man. Ind. Timb. p. 730). 

 The young fruits are edible (I.e. and in Diet. Econ. Prod. India). 



palm 



Kew 



Philippines 



Nipa ")— where (1910) approximately 90,000,000 litres of sap were 

 distiUed yielding 9,023,323 htres of proof alcohol (Gibbs, seq,, 

 Xew BiiU. 1912, p. 126). The flowering 



in 



thin 



being 



wound open ; the flow continues for about 3 months, the average 

 daily flow from each tree is 0-579 Utre, and the yield of alcohol 

 is estimated at from 4-7-5 per cent. It possesses an advantage 

 over Arenga saccharifera in its long Hfe — upwards of 50 years (Lc). 

 May be raised from seed, which floats readily and as the 

 palm thrives at the mouths of rivers and swampy locaHties 



Mangr 



m association with 



grows 



wide 



littoral of so many countries. From 6 ft. by 6 ft. (approx. 

 1210 plants per acre) to 10 ft. by 10 ft. (435 plants per acre) 

 would be convenient distances to plant, although in a wild state 

 the plants may be much closer together. Of the small plantation 

 referred to above at Old Calabar, the Curator reports (Ann. Rep. 



Id Calabar, Dec. 31st, 1908) that '' of the thirty-nine 



Gdns 



oricfui 



survived at the beginning of the year and only one has died 

 since; with the water constantly washing over the roots, the 

 seedlings were a long time becoming established and very little 

 growth took place until the commencement of last rains : 



since 



then the plants have made vigorous growth and have now from 

 15-20 fully developed leaves and are rapidly pushing others." 

 In 1911 some 1200 seeds matured, 300 of which were sent to 

 Opobo for planting and the remainder sowti at Old Calabar, 

 with a view to transplanting them ultimately at Oron (Ann. 

 Hept. Agric. Dept. S. Nigeria, 1911, p. 14). 



In 1917 the Director of Agriculture reports (Trade Suppl. Nig. 

 Gaz. Aug. 30th, 1917, p. 98) that " the plot of Nipa Palms intro- 

 duced by Sir Walter Egerton in 1906 had grown sufficiently to 

 ■allow of leaves being cut, and a * bush ' store house was being 

 thatched with them," and that '' there is very little doubt that 

 these leaves provide a far more durable thatching material 

 than any indigenous leaf." 



