THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY. PART L 143 



I fully realize tliat great claims which have never been realized have 

 been made for the profits to be derived from the use of other palms, 

 Arenga saccharifera and the Caryota wens, in Java and India, for sugar 

 production on a commercial scale attractive to the investment of European 

 and American capital. However, in the case of the nipa, many of the 

 difiiculties encountered with the other palms do not exist. Some of the 

 points of especial advantage to the nipales are as follows : The swamps 

 already exist in a state ready to bring them into active production merely 

 by thinning, or, in the case of the swamps already employed in the alcohol 

 industiy, this work is already well under way ; many large areas are not 

 now put to any use and are to be had for a small investment; the plants 

 reproduce themselves and it is probable that each plant is capable of 

 producing continuously for fifty years; the flower stems are close to the 

 ground and the work of gathering the sap is quickly and easily performed ; 

 the producing plants grow very close together and the production per 

 hectare is large; transportation of the sap is cheaply accomplished 

 through the numerous waterways. 



Before concluding, I must point out that while these estimates are the 

 result of accurate laboratory^ and field investigations, they must be sub- 

 stantiated by experimental work on a small factory scale. I sincerely 

 trust that some one will be found willing to make the initial investment 

 to test these figures. If no unforeseen diflSculty is encountered, I believe 

 splendid returns will accrue. 



THE FRUIT OF THE NIPA PALM. 



The seed (see Plates III and IV), when soft and jelly-like, is eaten raw 

 or after preserving with sugar sirup. It is white when removed from the 

 carpel and turns brown on exposure to the air. The flavor is agreeable, 

 resembling that of meat of the coconut. 



An average size fruit weighed 9,541 gi-ams, and consisted of 8,960 

 grams of husks and stems and 575 grams or 6.1 per cent of edible seeds. 

 An incomplete analysis of the seeds is as follows : 



Per cent. 



Solids 20.75 



Ash L25 



Protein (NX 6.25) 2.64 



Reducing sugars 28 



Fat 1.79 



Crude fiber 3.30 



Sucrose None. 



Starch None. 



Undetermined 1 L69 



102300 6 



