There is a greater consumption of sugar each year which necessitates
greater production either through larger areas, heavier yields, or
its manufacture from other sacchariferous plants. The maximum in both
area and yield have by no means been reached, while in recent years
a large number of sacchariferous plants have attracted the attention
of various investigators throughout the sugar world, and this will in
all probability lead to a new source of supply. The most promising
of these plants is the sugar palm (Arenga saccharifera). Extensive
work was conducted on this palm by this Bureau and reported in the
May, 1914, number of the Philippine Agricultural Review. During the
above-mentioned year an entirely new method of juice clarification
was elaborated which is applicable to the juices of various other
palms as well as to that of the sugar cane.
In Bengal the wild date palm (Phoenix silvestris) has produced a low
grade of molasses sugar for consumption by the natives for a great
number of years. The main obstacle encountered in making a good
grade of sugar from this palm has been caused by the difficulty of
clarification and the susceptibility of the juice to fermentation. It
is thought that the above-mentioned process may bring this palm into
greater prominence in the sugar world.
There are also the Palmera (Borassus flabelliformis) of Southern India,
and the Nipa (Nipa fructicans) of the Philippines. Either of these
could undoubtedly be made profitable sugar producers. The latter is
used commercially only as a source of alcohol.
There is practically no limit to the number of sacchariferous plants
one might name in the Tropics and subtropics, but many of these do
not contain a sufficient percentage of sucrose, or else they contain
such a high percentage of impurities that the low yield of sugar and
the high cost of manufacture make their use unprofitable.
CITRUS FRUITS IN THE PHILIPPINES. [1]
By P. J. Wester, Horticulturist in Charge of Lamao Experiment Station.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
De Candolle, in his "Origin of Cultivated Plants," discusses 5 species
belonging to the genus Citrus: The pomelo, C. decumana L.; the citron,
lemon, and lime, here considered as distinct species, which he includes
under the one species, C. medica L.; the sweet orange, C. aurantium
L., which he separates from the sour orange and which is also by him
considered as a distinct species, C. vulgaris Risso; and finally the
mandarin, C. nobilis Lour. Of these, the pomelo, orange, mandarin,
lemon, lime, and citron are important pomologically, the sour orange
being grown principally as stock for the other species.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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