572 Forestry Quarterly. 



Put in another way, the land area of the Philippines is about 

 equal to that of the State of New Mexico, while the virgin forest 

 area is approximately equal to the entire area of the State of 

 Kentucky. 



2. Grass Lands. 



The large grass areas, called cogonales, are covered principally 

 with two species — cogon grass (Imperata exaltata) and talahib 

 (Saccharum spontaneum.). Such areas are known as cogonales. 

 They are mainly the result of a shifting system of agriculture, 

 which is prevalent throughout the Tropics and known in the 

 Philippines as caifigin making.* 



Cogonales originate in the following manner, and remain as 

 such so long as fires prevail. Usually a small portion of original 

 or second-growth forest is cut during the dry season, the timber 

 and brush are allowed to dry, and are then partially burned. The 

 area thus prepared is planted with rice, sweet potatoes, corn, or 

 other crops. Cultivation then practically ceases, and the jungle 

 growth, consisting of grass, weeds, and tree species, quickly gains 

 ascendancy over the planted crops, and at the end of the first, 

 second, or third year the caifigin maker abandons his clearings for 

 a new one in another patch of forest. If the jungle growth is 

 set on fire, as is frequently done, nearly all plants except the 

 grasses are killed. In this way through many years vast areas 

 of forest lands have been converted into cogonales, and repeated 

 firings have prevented any change in their vegetation. Aban- 

 doned areas, formerly more intensively cultivated, have also be- 

 come changed to grass lands in the same way. It is surprising 

 how quickly this grass will become dry enough to burn. Three or 

 four rainless days will permit it to burn with sufficient heat to 

 kill nearly all the seedlings of woody species. Grass lands are 

 prevalent on land of nearly all types of topography, from sea level 

 to the tops of the mountains. In the pine region of central and 

 northern Luzon other species of grasses frequently take the place 

 of the cogon, although these grass lands originated in the same 

 way. 



J. Second-grozuth Forests. 



The 20,000 square miles of second-growth forests in the 

 Islands, like the grass lands, are due in the main to the caifigin 



*Known in India as taungyas. 



