170 PHILIPPINE PALMS 
The original exports are made at prices ranging from 4 centavos 
to 20 centavos per kilo; while the partially manufactured prod- 
ucts are repurchased at from 1 peso to 1.30 pesos per kilo. 
The total value of all imports during the year ending June 30, 
1914, was 30,730 pesos, or nearly four times the value of the 
exports. During the fiscal year 1913 more than one million 
dollars worth of rattan was imported into the United States, 
while only four hundred dollars worth came directly from the 
Philippines. The export business in Palawan is partly con- 
ducted by the Palawan Exchange, a government institution for 
providing the uncivilized tribes in that island with the means 
of disposing of their products on fair terms; and partly by a 
few merchants of Puerto Princesa, the capital of the province. 
The exports from the other parts of the Islands are insignificant. 
Much of the remaining production in the Philippines is used 
in or near the localities where it is collected for the many domes- 
tic and industrial purposes it serves, and especially in place of 
twine or wire for baling hemp, copra, and tobacco. Nearly all 
of the comparatively small portion of the total supply which 
reaches Manila and the other large centers is brought together 
in small quantities by Chinese shopkeepers. 
QUALITY AND GRADE 
It is widely stated that there are to be had in the Philippines 
large quantities of rattan equal in quality to that produced else- 
where. The authorities of the Industrial Division of Bilibid 
Prison say that the best native product is equal to the best to 
be had from Hongkong, and merchants state that American 
firms have repeatedly approved samples. Nothing is known 
to contradict these statements, except the assertion of the han- 
dlers in Singapore that the very finest of all rattans are not to be 
had outside of two districts in Dutch Borneo. 
Great difficulty is encountered in any attempt to classify the 
various grades or to determine the relative plentifulness in the 
different localities in which they are found. This is probably 
due to a considerable extent to the fact that the various grades 
have not been connected with authentically named botanical 
specimens. This is not an easy task, as flowering specimens 
are rare and commercial canes are, of course, gathered without 
flowers, while botanical specimens are usually collected without 
canes. An exact classification of the canes seems, therefore, 
to be out of the question until an extensive study of them has 
been made. 
The adoption of a native system of nomenclature or grading 
