Edible Products. 



[May 1908. 



Propagation. 



The sago palm may be propagated 

 from seed which varies considerably in 

 size from an almond up to a hen's egg ; 

 it may also be propagated, and far 

 more rapidly, by planting the young 

 shoots, which the growing tree throws 

 out in all directions. 



Soil. 



The most suitable soil is a wet allu- 

 vial deposit, marsh or bog composed of 

 decayed vegetable matter near the sea 

 and undrained, with stiffish stuff under- 

 neath. How closely this requirement 

 is answered by the lands of British 

 Guiana it is unnecessary to emphasize. 

 Rumphius, after whom the variety first 

 mentioned is named, says:—"' The tree 

 grows best in miry or watery soil, 

 where men sink to the knees in mud. 

 It will grow in gravelly soil, if only it is 

 charged with moisture and hence no 

 plantation of the Sago Palm will thrive 

 where there are not one or more rive- 

 lets of water. A bog knee-deep is conse- 

 quently the best site for a sago planta- 

 tion. 



Cultivation. 

 It is considered advisable to plant not 

 closer than 10 feet apart or 435 trees 

 to the acre, although in the immense 

 forest in which it grows many large 

 stems are not more than 6 feet apart. 

 After this it requires no further atten- 

 tion, unless the variety Metroxylon laeve 

 is being raised when it will need to be 

 protected from the ravages of animals, 

 the spiny variety being self -protecting. 

 When a plantation arrives at maturity 

 the natural mode of growth secures a 

 constant succession ot new plants from 

 the time those first planted have begun 

 to extend their roots, and the succession 

 can be regulated by the knife in any 

 way the planter desires. 



Harvest. 

 There is no fixed season for extracting 

 the pith which is taken as individual 

 trees ripen, which much depends on the 

 soil ; experience will teach the proper 

 time to harvest a tree. Generally this 

 is indicated by fructification, but may 

 also be tested by boring a hole and test- 

 ing a small quantity of extracted pith. 

 If a tree is not harvested it gradually 

 dries up inside and becomes hollow and 

 dies. When the pith is ascertained to be 

 ripe the tree is cut down near the roots 

 and the trunk divided into 6 or 7 feet 

 lengths each of which is split open and 

 the medullary substance extracted. In 

 Borneo the tree ripens in about 8 years 

 but somewhat longer might be taken for 

 average. The tree grows so easily that 

 in many places it is planted for orna- 



mental purposes. The rate of produc- 

 tion is nothing short of astounding and 

 the following output is recorded iu the 

 "Journal of the Indian Archipelago"; 

 " Three trees yield more food than an 

 acre of wheat and six times more than 

 an acre of potatoes. An acre of sago 

 cut down at one harvest will yield 5,220 

 bushels, as much as 163 acres of wheat, 

 so that according as 7 or 15 years is 

 allowed for the growth of the palm, an 

 acre of sago is equal to an annual pro- 

 duction of 23 to 30 acres of wheat." 



Fruit. 



Apart from the pith the fruit 

 forms an abundant and nourishing 

 diet, a basket of fruit will support 

 7 persons for a week and a good tree 

 will produce 30 baskets at a crop. The 

 fruit keeps Avell under water. 



Preparation. 



When the pith has beeu extracted as 

 described it is at once reduced to powder 

 with an instrument of bamboo or hard- 

 wood. The process of separating the 

 farina from the accompanying bran and 

 filaments is simple and obvious, and 

 consists merely in mixing the powdered 

 pith with water and passing the water 

 charged with farina through a sieve at 

 one end of a trough in which the mixture 

 is made. This water is again passed 

 through a second vessel when the farina 

 settles down to the bottom, and after 

 two or three more washings is fit for 

 use and will keep without further pre- 

 paration for a month. But for export 

 the finest meal is mixed with water and 

 the paste rubbed into small grains of 

 the shape and size of coriander seeds, 

 and is then termed Pearl Sago. 



Several young palms may be seen 

 growing in the Botanical Gardens, having 

 made excellent growth since they were 

 planted two years ago. The spiny 

 variety appears more energetic than the 

 smooth one, these trees being already 8 

 feet high, quite two feet higher than 

 the smooth kind ; all look the picture of 

 health, though they might have done 

 even better had they been set out in 

 some of our swamp lands rather than in 

 the drained soils of the Gardens. 



Pearl Sago. 



This article will conclude with a des- 

 cription of the only remaining step, the 

 manufacture of the Pearl Sago, thus 

 showing that the whole process from 

 planting out to exporting the finished 

 article is of the simplest nature, in fact 

 the manufacture of Pearl Sago is entirely 

 jn the hands of Chinese. 



The tampins or leaf bags of sago hav- 

 ing been dried as described are placed 



