COCO-NUT PRODUCTS 173 



The usual work of one sanar is to care for thirty or 

 forty trees. In the Philippines it is customary to 

 devote a solid grove to toddy production, and to 

 connect the trees of this grove by bamboos, which are 

 tied from tree to tree just far enough below the crown 

 so as to provide a convenient stand for the toddy- 

 collector's work. Each of these bridges is made of two 

 bamboos, one to walk on and one to hold to. The 

 toddy - collector always carries a vessel, whether a 

 bamboo or not, into which he pours the sap which has 

 flowxd from each inflorescence, leaving in its old place 

 the vessel into which the sap has dropped. By the 

 method in use in the Philippines it is common for one 

 collector to take care of as many as a hundred trees. 

 Each time that the tree is visited another thin slice is 

 removed from the cut surface. Expertness in this work 

 consists very largely in the removal of the thinnest 

 possible slice by a single clean stroke of the knife. If 

 the cut is not a clean one the flow of toddy is interfered 

 with, and the thinner the slice the longer the flow of 

 toddy can be kept up from each inflorescence. 



The business is so highly developed in the Philip- 

 pines that one special form of knife is made for 

 the cleaning of the inflorescence which goes with the 

 bending, and another special form of knife for the 

 slicing of the cut end. These knives are not articles of 

 commerce but are made locally for the purpose. Failure 

 to remove the slice when the toddy is collected results 

 promptly in a decreased flow. If a slice is removed 

 three times daily instead of in the morning and at 

 night only, a greater flow can be obtained for the 

 twenty-four hours. But this increase is not proportional 

 to the number of slices removed, and therefore results 

 in a decrease in the total yield of an inflorescence. 



If the work is expertly done, each inflorescence will 

 continue to give a good flow until the remaining stub 

 becomes so short that it is not practicable to collect the 

 juice, or until only the stem of the inflorescence remains. 

 In Ceylon a single inflorescence flows for thirty or 



