EDITORIAL. 235 



fruiting stem is cut as close to the young fruit as possible and the emerging liquid 

 {tuba) caught in a joint of bamboo. Every day a very thin slice is cut from 

 tlie stem to prevent the pores from becoming clogged. The removal of thick 

 slices will destroy the stem before all the tuba can be drawn. 



The production of tuba from a mature tree usually increases during the first 

 fifty to sixty days after tapping and decreases during twenty-five to thirty 

 days more. If tuba is drawn for a longer period the tree will die. The tuba 

 from mature stems is white, has an aromatic odor and is sweet. That from 

 palms having- less mature fruit is bluish and less sweet and, therefore, has less 

 fermentative value. The average yield per tree fluctuates from one-half to 3 

 liters per day, with a total of from 30 to 40 liters (sp. gr. 1.07 to 1.08 at 15°. 

 The juice contains approximately 12 per cent of fermentable material which is 

 largely saccharose. Thirty-two to 34 liters of tuba will usually produce one 

 liter of pure alcohol. In the Provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga, where the 

 price of the molasses residues from sugar cane is low, the latter is mixed with 

 the tuba before fermentation and is said to give a larger yield of alcohol than 

 would the two if fermented separately. 



Alcohol is remoTed from the fermented tuba by distillation. The 

 method used in the provinces produces a distillate containing about 50 

 per cent of alcohol. By redistilling a sufficient number of times a 95 

 per cent alcohol might be produced^ but the process would be very 

 expensive; therefore, the crude alcohol is shipped to the large distilleries 

 in Manila, where it can be refined more economically. In the latter, 

 the process is continuous; the vapors pass through several stills and 

 are cooled just sufficiently to condense them in each one until the proper 

 purity is reached. It will, therefore, be seen that after an alcohol once . 

 passes the crude 50 per cent stage a purity of 95 per cent can be produced 

 with very little more expense per proof liter than one of lower grade. 

 The economy of the purer form is obvious. 



The manufacture of alcohol from tuba is rather expensive and it is 

 doubtful if the process could be greatly cheapened. Denatured alcohol 

 (95 per cent) from this source is sold wholesale at 3.40 pesos, Philip- 

 pine currency (1.80 dollars, United States currency) per 15 liters, 

 while the above estimated price for the product from corn would be 

 2.30 pesos per 15 liters. If a market for alcohol as a fuel were opened 

 it could undoubtedly be produced from tuba for 2 pesos per 15 liters, 

 but with the present spasmodic usage it can not be sold at that figure. 



Cassava is grown in the United States over a large area of the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf States and numerous analyses made by the Division 

 of Chemistry, United States Department of Agriculture ^° have shown 

 that the roots contain about 30 per cent of starch. With the exception 

 of cereals it contains the largest amount of fermentable matter. 



"An average crop of cassava in the United States may be placed at 5 tons 

 of roots per acre on the ordinary lands of Florida, with proper preparation and 



''Farm. Bull. U. 8. Dept. Agr. (1903), 167, 23; 268, 17; Bull. U. 8. Dept. 

 Agr. Div. of Chem. (1900), 58, 36. 

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