174 



THE COCO-NUT 



CHAP. 



forty days, or less. The result is that the usual number 

 of inflorescences producing toddy at one time is the 

 most of the time only one on a tree. In the Philippines 

 there are usually two inflorescences being tapped on a 

 tree, and it is not rare to find three. If a tree is used 

 exclusively for toddy production it becomes weakened 

 after a time, the flow of sap decreases, and the tree 

 may be permanently injured. To prevent this the 

 Ceylon practice is said to be to permit about one in- 

 florescence in three to produce nuts. In the Philippines 

 every inflorescence of the tree is used for some months, 

 and the tree is then given a rest and allowed to produce 

 nuts only for some time. 



With regard to the yield of sap there is a wide 

 divergence in the figures given. The yield obtained 

 depends very largely upon the expertness of the 

 collector and also on the condition of the tree, which in 

 turn is much influenced by the weather. In periods of 

 drought the yield is much less than when the tree is 

 well supplied with water. There is one statement 

 quoted from Watt's Dictionary of Economic Products 

 of India after Cleghorn, that forty trees yield about 

 12 Madras measures daily, seven in the morning and 

 five in the evening ; this indicates a production by each 

 tree of about 200 cc. a day. Another statement by 

 Watt after Shortt is that the average quantity obtained 

 is three or four quarts daily for two or three weeks 

 from each spathe. Watt further states that in 

 Ratn&gire the yield is 35 to 64 imperial gallons a year ; 

 and in Kolaba, 2 '2 litres a day or 477 litres a month, 

 the latter rate being equivalent to 1*56 litres a day. 

 The most careful measurements from Java are those of 

 Molisch, who obtained 0*57 of a litre a day for fourteen 

 days, 0*54 of a litre for nine days, and 0'3 to 0*4 of a 

 litre, daily for fourteen days, from three different in- 

 florescences. Molisch found at one time a flow of more 

 than a litre a day from a single spathe. 



Gibbs has recently made careful observations, on a 

 large scale, of the yield in the Philippines. For one 



