REVIEWS 2;^1 



the approval of applications shows that fraudulent practices in home- 

 steading are common to our Malay subjects as well as to some of the 

 occupants of land in our western National Forests. During 1916 some 

 7,000 parcels of land were examined. No statement was made as to 

 the number approved. 



An encouraging sign is the marked decrease in the number of illegal 

 caifigins reported over the previous year. The reduction is believed to 

 be due largely to the educational work of the forest officials. 



In order to encourage the use of brush lands for caiiigins, authority 

 was granted to clear such land in one district on the condition that the 

 area when abandoned would be reforested with ipil-ipil {Leucanea 

 glauca), a tree much in demand for firewood. The results from the 

 first efforts were so successful that there was a large increase in the 

 number of applications from those who were unable to take up home- 

 steads. 



Progress was made in the establishment of commercial forests, a 

 policy which has met with great approval from the public in general. 

 Out of a total of 360 such forests in the islands, 22 per cent were estab- 

 lished in 1916. The object sought in creating these forests is to pro- 

 vide fuel and timber, especially for communities in regions where some 

 of the public wood supply is remote. 



An important phase of forest work in the islands is the reforestation 

 of the land covered with cogon grass {Imperata exaltata). Forty per 

 cent of the areas of the islands is covered with cogon, which is useless 

 as a forage, is a fire menace, destroys the productivity of its soil, and 

 also is the breeding places of the vast hordes of locusts which annually 

 do great damage to agricultural crops. The cogon-covered area is 

 gradually increasing, and unless some means of arresting the spread of 

 this grass is found it is doubtful if the locust pest can be controlled. 



The Bureau of Forestry has found that the ipil-ipil tree is able to 

 crowd out the cogon grass in two years. In addition to the value of its 

 wood for fuel, the foliage makes a good green manna, the seeds are 

 used as a substitute for coffee, and the root system has marked ability 

 to fix nitrogen in the soil. 



The Bureau has taken up the reforestation of cogon lands on a small 

 scale, having a 10,000-peso appropriation for this purpose during 191(1. 

 Some 4,000 hectares were reforested on the island of Cebu. largelv by 

 broadcasting 24 liters of seed per hectare. Some seedlings were planted 

 on selected spots. The average labor cost of broadcasting was 14 cents 

 (gold) per hectare and for planting $1 (gold) per 1,000 plants. The 

 experiment has proved .so satisfactory that tbc work will be cnntiinied 

 in the future. 



