Brushes, nets and other domestic articles are also
manufactured from the husk. Scarcely any other tree in the world is so
useful to man or contributes so much to his comfort as the
cocoanut-palm. Food and drink are alike obtained from it. The kernel of
the nut is an article of diet, and can be prepared in many ways. The
native is almost sustained by it, and in Ceylon it forms a part of
nearly every dish. The spathe that encloses the yet-unopened flowers is
made to yield a favorite beverage called palm-wine, or, more familiarly,
'toddy.' When the fresh juice is used, it is an innocent and refreshing
drink; but when left to ferment, it intoxicates, and is the one evil
result from the bountiful gifts of the tree. Oil is prepared in great
quantities from the nuts and used for various purposes."
"Are there any more kinds of palm trees?" asked the children.
"Yes," was the reply; "there are a great many members of this most
useful family, but the one that will interest you most, after the
date-and cocoanut-palm, is, I think, the sago-palm."
[Illustration: YOUNG COCOANUT TREE IN POT (_Cocos nucifera_).]
"Why, Miss Harson!" exclaimed Clara, in surprise; "does sago really grow
on a tree?"
"It really grows _in_ a tree--for it is a kind of starch secreted by the
tree for the use of its flowers and fruit--and in order to obtain it the
tree has to be cut down. The pith is then taken out and cut in slices,
soaked in water and roasted; and when it assumes the shape of the small
globules in which we see it, it is ready for exportation.
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