4. The same shell, aside from many uses quoted by Pereira, is used here for every conceivable form of cup, ladle, scoop, and spoon.
5. From the tough midrib of the leaf, strong and beautiful baskets of many designs are made, also excellent and durable brooms, and from the part where the midrib coalesces with the petiole pot-cleaning brushes are made.
6. The roots are sometimes used for chewing, as a substitute for Areca. They also furnish red dyestuff and with one end finely subdivided may be used in making toothbrushes.
7. The leaves and midribs, when burned, furnish an ash so rich in potash that it may be used alone in water as a substitute for soap or when a powerful detergent is required.
8. The fiber of the husk is used extensively by the natives for calking boats.
9. The milk is used in the preparation of a native dish of rice, known as “casi.” It is an excellent and highly prized dietary article, prepared with rice or in combination with chicken or locusts.
10. The oil, melted with resins, is an effective and lasting covering for anything desired to be protected from the ravages of white ants.
11. The timber is used to bridge streams and bog holes, and the slowly decaying leaves to fill them up and render them temporarily passable.
12. The fiber is used in cordage and rope making, but to a far less extent here than in India.
Its further uses are, in general, those current in the Orient. Briefly summed up, its timber is employed in every form of house construction; its foliage in making mats, sacks, and thatches; its fruit in curry and sweetmeats; its oil for medicine, cookery, and illumination; its various juices in the manufacture of wines, spirits, sugar, and vinegar; while not to overlook a final and not inconsiderable Filipino product, the splinters of the midrib are used in making toothpicks.