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.