256 



shoulder and one near the tip, antennae shorter than the beak, 

 clubbed blackish brown. Legs and abdomen brown. 



This set of beetles is most troublesome and difficult t.o deal with' 

 hidden under the sheaths they easily escape almost all insecticide* 

 To deal with them, the plants must be thoroughly cleaned, the dead 

 sheaths removed and the insects destroyed. Then a solution of 

 Calverts carbolic soap, eight ounces to a gallon of water is drop- 

 ped among the leaves which expells them. A decoction of pine- 

 apple-leaves in water is also very efficacious. 



Grasshoppers are often troublesome to young palms, and the 

 worst is a very small species of Tettix, a little brown grasshopper 

 which looks like a small piece of dirt, about J inch long. It is 

 usually in great force just before sundown. Small butterfly nets, or 

 the favorite Malay method of catching these insects with a stick 

 dipped in birdlime (the latex of the Jack tree or of Getah Terap) 

 are the best methods of dealing with this class of pest. 



Scale is common on young palms as well as old ones, as are 

 Coccids. The presence of a nest of Keringas, {Formica smarag- 

 dina^) is a certain sign of the palm's being infested by one or other 

 of these pests. Tobacco and soft soap or Calverts Carbolic soap 

 may be rubbed over the scales and will destroy them. 



Thrips is very common occasionally on seedlings. It produces 

 spots on the leaves, and spoils their appearance. The Carbolic 

 soap will evict them. 



Economic uses. — Of important industries from palms the best 

 known are: — Coco-nuts, Rattans; Palm-oil; (Elaeis) Sago; Dates; 

 Betel-nuts; Pissaba, and Timbers. In almost all tropical countries 

 there is a large local trade in various articles obtained from palms. 

 It is the subsidiary products however that are so very interesting. 



Inflorescence. — Commencing with the flowers or inflorescence, 

 toddy is obtained by cutting the ends of the spadices (flower and 

 fruit branches) and is furnished by Coco-nuts; Kabong, Gula 

 Malacca, {Arenga saccharifera) Dates; Phoenix and Hyphsene', 

 Palmyra ; Borassus ; Talipot Corypha ; Kitul ; Caryota; Oil-Palm; 

 Elaeis and others. A cool pleasant beverage when fresh and an 

 ardent spirit (arrack) when fermented and distilled. Vinegar can 

 also be prepared instead of arrack, or, before fermented, palm sugar 

 or Jaggery, and also starch, by boiling down. In the Straits the 

 leaven used by bakers is obtained from Coco-nut toddy, and gula 

 Malacca from Arenga. (It may be remarked that toddy can be 

 obtained by tapping the trunk as is still done with the dates in 

 parts of India and Africa, but is generally considered too des- 

 tructive). 



Some genera supply edible fruits, the most important being the 

 Coco-nuts and Dates, others are Buah Salak, (Zalacca), Euterpe, 

 Erythca, Bactris, Astrocaryum, Calami and several other genera, 

 in fact nearly all produce fruits which are eaten by birds, bats, mon- 

 keys, squirrels and rats. 



Valuable oils so largely used in soap, candles, margarine, are ex- 



