THE WILD DATE PALM OF INDIA. 



253 



trickles, and from thence drops into an earthen pot suspended under- 

 neath it by a string. The pots are suspended in the evening, and 

 removed very early the following morning, ere the sun has sufficient 

 power to warm the juice, which would cause it immediately to ferment, 

 and destroy its quality of crystallizing into sugar. 



A plantation is always divided by the cultivator into seven equal 

 sections, and one such section is tapped daily. The cutting is made in 

 the afternoon, and the pot suspended as above mentioned. Next morning 

 the pot is found to contain, from a full-grown tree, ten seers of juice, the 

 second morning four seers, and the third morning two seers of juice 

 (the seer is about 2 lbs.) ; the quantity exuding afterwards is so small, 

 that no pot is suspended for the next four days. On the evening of the 

 seventh day it again comes to the turn of this section of trees to be 

 cut, which is effected by a thin slice being pared from the triangular 

 face, which, by again dividing the sap vessels, causes the juice to flow 

 afresh as at first. Each section is thus cut in succession, and the 

 process is repeated throughout the goor season, which usually ter- 

 minates about the 15th of February, after which the heat of the 

 weather causes the juice to ferment so rapidly, that it is no more 

 convertible into sugar, and consequently not worth the labour of 

 extraction and evaporation of its water, as molasses only would be 

 the product. Juice produced during the day-time of the cold season 

 is of similar quality, and for the same reason is allowed to run to 

 waste. 



Daily at sunrise, throughout the goor season, the industrious ryot 

 may be seen climbing his trees, and collecting at a convenient spot 

 beneath them the earthen pots containing the juice yielded during 

 the past night. Under a rude shed, covered with the leaves of the 

 date tree itself, and erected under the shade of the plantation, is pre- 

 pared the boiling apparatus to serve for the goor season. It con- 

 sists of a hole of about three feet in diameter sunk two feet in the 

 ground, over which are supported by mud arches, four thin earthen 

 pans of a semi-globular shape, and eighteen inches in diameter ; the 

 hole itself is the furnace, and has two apertures on opposite sides 

 for feeding in the fuel, and for escape of the smoke. The fire is lit 

 as soon as the juice is collected, and poured into the four pans, which 

 are kept constantly supplied with fresh juice as the water evaporates, 

 until the whole produce of the morning is boiled down to the required 

 density. As the contents of each pan become sufficiently boiled, 

 they are ladled out into other earthen pots or jars, of various sizes, 

 from five to twenty seers of contents, according to local custom, and 

 in these the boiled extract cools, crystallizes into a hard compound of 

 granulated sugar and molasses, and is brought to market for sale as 

 goor. 



The subsequent processes by which the goor is deprived more or 

 less of its molasses and impurities, and the drier, and more merchant- 

 able kinds of sugar are prepared for market, will now be briefly 

 described. These processes are always conducted by a distinct class 

 of operators, who purchase the goor from the cultivators, and bring 

 it to various stages of purity and dryness under different denomina- 

 tions. 



