537 
Pal mce. 
It is unnecessary to do more here than refer to the coconut. Of 
other palms but few give any fruit worth eating. 
I he fruits of nearly all the rattans. Calamus and Dcsmonorops , 
are eaten by Malays. The eatable portion being a thin layer of 
sweet pulp around the seed. The fruit of the Salak, Zalacca 
edulis', a- bushy thorny palm, native of Java is regularly sold in the 
streets in May. It is a dark brown scaly fruit, containing three or 
fewer seeds enclosed in a firm white flesh. It is very popular among 
natives, but seldom eaten by Europeans. Plants of the Salak grown 
for many years in Singapore Botanic Gardens have never yet pro- 
duced fruit. 
The Asam Paya, or Kelubi, Zalacca conferta is an aquatic species 
growing in great thickets in jungle swamps. It is stemless or nearly 
so with immense thorny leaves.' The fruits are borne in clusters at 
the base of the leaves, and are of a light yellow brown color, and 
covered with scales. The pulp surrounding the seeds is white and 
juicy but very acid. It is gathered and eaten by Malays, but is not 
cultivated anywhere. 
The fruit of the Nipa palm Nipa fruticans so abundant along 
tidal rivers, contains a small quantity of slightly sweet albumen in 
the seed which is eaten, being something like the albumen of the 
young coconut in flavour but sweeter. 
AGRICULTURE IN BAHIA AND SERGIPE, 
BRAZIL. 
The Consular Report lor 1901 has the following under the above 
heading: — ■ 
Cocoa. — The quality of cocoa exported in 1901 was in excess of 
the figures for 1900, but the actual value of the exports is consi- 
derably less. New plantations come into bearing every season, 
and the cultivation of this article continues to prove profitable to 
the planter, notwithstanding the fall in prices. 
Increased production may safely be looked for, but the progress 
will he slow owing to the limited area of land suitable for cocoa 
planting, and the length of time (five years) required for the deve- 
lopment of the tree. He vy rains affected the quality of the crop, 
but this might to a great extent have been mitigated if the planters 
would only bestow adequate attention on the drying of the gather- 
ed beans. They are often collected when damp, and subsequently 
smoked in order to dry them. The methods employed are primi- 
tive, and the operation scamped, with the result that the bean 
acquires an unpleasant smoky flavour, and is unsuitable for the 
manufacture of chocolate. Local British and German firms prac- 
tically monopolise this trade, but the buying orders appear to all 
emanate from Hamburg. The United States purchase direct, but 
not to any extent. 
Coffee .-^ The important trade of coffee again showed a falling- 
off, prices proving so unsatisfactory to planters that they preferred 
