44 



monsoon. The return trip, against the wind, may take anywhere from 

 twenty-four hours to a week. The towa of Binalbagan is situated near 

 the mouth of a river of the same name, 25 kilometers directly south 

 of Pontevedra. Owing to the shallowness of this river, the lorcha land- 

 ings are all located within a short distance of its mouth, and all sugar 

 from the district must be brought to this point for shipment to Iloilo, 

 either in bull carts or down the river in small barges of a few tons' 

 capacity. The best sugar lands lie at a distance of from one-half to 

 2 kilometers on either side of the Binalbagan Eiver, extending thus 

 for 20 kilometers inland to the town of Isabela, up to which place 

 the soil presents the usual characteristics of alluvial ground in JSTegi'Os, 

 being quite sandy near the river bank, but within a kilometer or so 

 resolving itself into a more or less heavy, wet clay, which, because of 

 lack of drainage, is given over chiefly to the cultivation of rice. From 

 Isabela the cane fields spread out north and south for 5 or 6 kilometers, 

 and to an equal distance back into the mountains, but here they are 

 more broken up by hills and more varied in their character. The same 

 conditions concerning transportation in this district prevail as in the 

 majority of other parts of the island: "In dry weather, all roads are 

 good ; when it rains, one stays at home." 



Area and prodvciion of the Biiialhagan-Isahehi dislrict {1908). 



Although this is one of the richest localities in Negros, it will be 

 noted that the production per hectare is one of the lowest, due largely 

 to the fact that practically all the lands here allow of the growing 

 of ratoon canes, which system, because of the saving in expense, as 

 it is not necessary to replant, is often carried to an extreme, resulting 

 in very poor crops. From 15 to 30 per cent only of all the sugar 

 produced in this region is from plant cane. The average yield for the 

 whole district is also much reduced by the inclusion of the lower or 



