104 MANGROVE SWAMPS 
uan-lalaki; but it is much more inclined to be crooked, and its 
wood is not so good. 
Bakauan-babae begins to flower in its third year, but is said 
not to bear fertile fruit till the fourth or fifth year. 
In going hurriedly through the swamp in a boat, one gets the 
impression that more bakauan-babae is planted than bakauan- 
lalaki. This is because the bakauan-babae is planted at the 
edge of the stream. 
CUTTING 
Different practices in cutting are followed in different local- 
ities. In the Sexmoan and Guagua neighborhoods, the cutting 
is often done by contract. The owner gives the contractor one- 
half of the cut and furnishes the bancas for transportation. 
In such cases, the woody prop roots do not enter into the 
contract and are the property of the cutter, if he chooses to 
take them. It is said, however, that the owner can make a 
larger profit by employing his own men to do the cutting. 
The firewood is regularly of three grades. The first grade 
is about 60 centimeters in length and 2 or 3 centimeters in 
thickness. It is split from the pieces of larger diameter and, 
locally, has a value of 2 pesos per thousand. The second grade 
is of the same length as the first, but is split from pieces of 
smaller diameter. It sells locally for 1 peso per thousand. The 
third grade is made of pieces which are shorter and of still 
smaller diameter. This grade sells locally for 2 pesos per 10,000 
pieces. 
Woodcutters, who cut the trees in the swamp, transport the 
poles to the wood yard, and split them there, are paid 0.625 
peso per 1,000 pieces of the first grade, 0.625 peso per 2,000 of 
the second grade, and 0.625 peso per 10,000 pieces of the third 
grade. Consequently the cutter does not know just how much 
he will receive until! the pieces have been split. The cutter 
takes the poles from the swamp in a banca and delivers them 
at his own or some other wood yard, where they are cut into 
firewood size. This splitting into firewood is often done by 
women and children. Only the straight pieces are cut up for 
firewood. The splitting is either done with a special, heavy- 
bladed, long-handled bolo, which is used with a chopping move- 
ment like an ax; or with a special, short-bladed, narrow ax. 
The small air-roots of the bakauan are sometimes sold after 
being split once. They then bring about 50 centavos per thou- 
sand. They are not regularly classified, and often are not cut 
but are left to decay in the swamp. 
The straight and slender tops of the bakauan, which are 
about 4 meters long, a centimeter in diameter at the top, and 
