NOTES ON POND CULTURE IN THE 

 PHILIPPINES 



By Lewis Radcliffe 



The islands of the Philippine Archipelago lie wholly 

 within the tropics. The land area extends north and south 

 1,150 miles, east and west 650 miles, and comprises more 

 than 3,000 islands with a soil area of nearly 128,000 square 

 miles, or about one-sixth of the total area. The water on the 

 wide plateau on which the islands stand is relatively shal- 

 low, much of it being less than 200 feet deep. Notwith- 

 standing the excellent opportunities afforded the salt water 

 fisherman, pond-culture holds a most unique and important 

 place, ranking in capital invested and output as one of the 

 most important fisheries of the islands. 



Pond-cultural operations have been carried on in the 

 region about Manila for at least half a century. The ponds 

 are confined mainly to the lowlands adjacent to lagoons and 

 tidal streams, lands of little or no value for other purposes. 

 The principal region lies around the shores of Manila Bay. 

 Its ponds alone are valued at more than $3,000,000* and it 

 is with the methods used here that the present paper deals. 

 In the province of Bulacan alone, the governor reported in 

 1908 nearly 15,000 acres devoted to these operations. 



The ponds are simple excavations of varying size. Some 

 of the larger cover several acres and are often subdivided, 

 each subdivision having a specific function. Two small 

 ponds near Cavite, 35 by 58 and 30 by 120 feet, united 

 with one another by a sluice and with a neighboring stream 

 by a narrow supply channel, had been built at a cost, includ- 

 ing masonry, of less than $50. 



The following description of one of the larger ponds 

 near Manila will serve to illustrate this class. It was 600 



* An estimate made by Mr. Wm. D. Carpenter, who has given 

 the study of the methods used in the Philippines considerable attention 

 and to whom I am indebted for corroboration of a number of doubtful 

 points and for some additional ones. 



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