January, 1912.] 







Oils and Fats. 



in the nrHirary sugar mill which form 

 one of the heaviest items of expense iu 

 the mechanical line, would be unneces- 

 sary. Another considerable item is that 

 once planted, the nipa takes care of 

 itself, that it requires no cultivation, and 

 that its product may go on for a century. 

 Trees which have been producing for 

 half that time, fifty years, are already 

 on record among unimpeachable author- 

 ities. The method of extracting the 

 sap is very simple, consisting of the 

 native puncturing each tree, and draw- 

 ing off the liquid in bamboo measures, 

 day by day this operation lasting for 

 about an average of seventy days annu- 

 ally with each tree. Of course, the pro- 

 cess of extraction can be carried on 

 practically all the year, because differeut 

 trees may be used in the same tract, 

 thus keeping up the business all the 

 year round. 



The figures from the yield of one hec- 

 tare, by a series of measurements, show 

 that, from 2,000 trees sufficient sap may 

 be drawn to produce 10,428 kilos of sugar 

 (say 10^ tons) of 96 per cent, polarization. 

 At 16 centavos per kilo, a fair average 

 value, this would bring a gross income 

 of 1,668'48 pesetas, from which the ex- 

 pense must naturally be deducted. 



Reference has been made principally 

 to the nipa tree, bat in addition there 

 are also three other varieties of trees, the 

 coconut buri and sugar palms, all of 

 which produce sap suitable for sugar. 

 The advantage of the transportation of 

 sap over that of the heavy sugar-cane 

 to the mills is of course plainly obvious, 

 since the labourer merely steps from his 

 banca to the shore, extraccs the sap, 

 pours his bamboo measures into some 

 larger receptacle in the banca and 

 paddles away to the mill, one man being 

 all that la necessary for the operation, 

 and the buiiding of railroads, as in the 

 case of sugar-cane, being unnecessary 

 for transportation purposes. 



It has been estimated by the doctor 

 and his assistants that an area of from 

 750 to 1 000 hectares of nipa trees would 

 be sufficient to keep a 100-ton sugar 

 mill running continually. 



In addition to the sugar industry 

 there is also the production of alcohol, 

 which can be made from the sap of the 

 nipa tree in quantities sufficient to 

 supply the entire China coast, beside 

 what is needed for local consumption. 

 Last year over 9,000,000 litres of alcohol 

 were made from 90,000,000 litres of sap, 

 and this is merely a small fraction of 

 what might be done. 

 2 



In addition to taking sap from the 

 nipa trees for alcohol, coconut tree sap 

 is largely used, and the scientists have 

 demonstrated that the production of 

 the coconut trees maybe increased by 

 over 112 per cent, by intelligent handl- 

 ing, 



Experiments made with regard to the 

 yield of sap from one hundred coconut 

 trees for a period of thirty-one days, 

 with two collections per day, showed 

 that the average daily production of sap 

 per tree was approximately 1'4 litres 

 each. 



Whilst this is extremely interesting to 

 hear of, we would say that such large 

 withdrawals of sap must tell heavily 

 upon the palms, and by reducing their 

 vigour, decrease both the size and quan- 

 tity of the nuts. In fact, such trees 

 would, we feel, be useless for coprah- 

 production — at least, when being syste- 

 matically tapped as described. 



We have received several inquiries 

 from this side re cultivators for coconut 

 grooves, arising out of our review of 

 Mr. Dean C. Worcester's pamplet (pp. 

 179-180 of our September issue), and so 

 will publish our answer in ease others 

 out in the Philippines or elsewhere want 

 the same information. 



" Most of the unforested land,' writes 

 Mr. Worcester, "suitable for coconut 

 planting in the Philippines is covered 

 with the tall, coarse grass, known as 

 cogon, or with a species of bamboo 

 grass which closely resembles sugar-caue 

 iu appearance, cogon grass being by far 

 the commoner of the two. In order 

 to clean coeron land the grass must first 

 be burnt off, and the land must then be 

 ploughed (a strong plough would be 

 needed to withstand the root growth), 

 and then harrowed repeatedly so as to 

 get rid of the roots. If this is not done 

 the cogon will promptly re-establish 

 itself. If native ploughs and harrows 

 are used, the land must be gone over 

 four times the first year; and twice dur- 

 ing the succeeding year." Our inquirers 

 wanted to know what sort of implement 

 could be used for cultivation work be- 

 tween coconuts, so we communicated 

 with our friends at Ipswich, who recom- 

 mended their "Ipswich" steel cultivator 

 as illustrated. These implements are 

 made with 8, 13 or 17 tines. They have 

 one steel " through " axle and one lever 

 for raising and depressing the tines. 

 The wheels are of steel and the centres 

 can be takeu out and replaced by new 

 ones, thus making them equal to new. 

 A swivel-wheel is attached to a short 

 pole, and takes all the weight off the 

 animals, but a pole with whippletrees for 



