THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY. PART L H? 



flower is cut before the fruit is formed and under such circumstances 

 the daily yield of sap is said to be increased, but the period of flow 

 reduced from three to one and one-half months, the total yield being 

 practically the same in both cases. The plant seemingly is not affected 

 by this treatment. The tuba season is usually of six months' duration. 

 As a rule it commences in Luzon in August, sometimes as early as July, 

 but it is subject to varying climatic conditions. In some areas only a 

 portion of the palms are cut at the beginning of the season in order to 

 supply the distilleries with tuba throughout the year and thus avoid 

 shutting down the plant. As these palms are exhausted, the others 

 are brought into production by cutting, and thus the season becomes 

 continuous. Xo accurate estimates of the leng-th of the tim^ during 

 which the nipa palm will continue to fructify and give tuba are available, 

 but all observ'ers unite in saying that this process will continue for many 

 years, perhaps for fifty or more. 



Yield of sap. — The estimates of the yield of sap vary within very 

 wide limits. A distiller who has had much experience in the nipales 

 believes that each producing plant will average 1.25 liters daily, and a 

 chemist at one time employed by one of the distillers has stated that an 

 average plant will flow 50 liters during the season. 



The yield per hectare has been estimated by many different writers and 

 distillers and it is evident from a perusal of the figures that many are mere 

 guesses. The number of plants per hectare is estimated by a chemist in the 

 employ of one of the distillers to be 2,500. Internal Revenue Agent G. A. Ruge 

 believes the municipalities of Abulug and Pamplona in the Province of Cagayan 

 to have nipales containing 4,600 plants per hectare.^- A distiller of wide experi- 

 ence told me that the number is 700. If this latter figure. is taken to be 700 

 plants producing at the same time I have no doubt that it is fairly accurate 

 for the areas controlled by his company. He also stated that they obtained in 

 actual practice 438 liters per hectare daily during the season. This is equivalent 

 to 78,480 liters yearly per hectare,** a figaire quite close to my estimates. Other 

 figures, not so reliable, go as high as 225,000 liters per hectare. 



It is to be remembered that while wild nipa swamps may contain 4,000 plants 

 per hectare, the percentage of producing plants and the amoimt of sap which 

 each plant yields will be less than in the cultivated districts. In the uncultivated 

 areas a small proportion of the trees is accessible; in the cultivated, the plants 

 are thinned, and there are more waterways, and yet the yield of sap per hectare is 

 greatly increased. A yield of 75,000 liters of tuba per hectare per year would 

 be extremely satisfactory to the distillers, and I believe this amount is seldom 



^ Unpublished report to the Collector of Internal Revenue. "In obtaining the 

 data as to the number of plants per hectare, I measured off 10 meters square 

 in various localities in each of the districts of Abulug and Pamplona. An 

 effort was made to secure the average aiiiount of tuba each plant produced, 

 which effort, however, proved a failure because the tuba was continually stolen. 

 I have every reason to believe that the average amount of tuba per plant will 

 not fall below 1,000 g." (per day). 



'^Allowing 180 days for the collection of sap. 



