68 



MANILA DAILY BULLETIN 



The installation of a distillation plant would 

 prove a decided advantage and stimulus to 

 the tan-bark industry, for it could utilize 

 all the wood in a certain area, and conse- 

 quently trees of all sizes yielding valuable 

 tan bark could be stripped. All the species 

 of mangrove of any importance in the east- 

 ern tropics are found in the Philippine Is- 

 lands and the opportunity for a profitable 

 cutch in-lustry is very great. 



The extended use of mangrove bark and 

 more particularly mangrove extract is com- 

 paratively a recent development, the use 

 of both of these should be greatly extended in 

 the Philippine Islands. Camachile bark 

 used almost exclusively by Filipino tanners 

 is costly and limited in supply, whereas man- 

 grove bark is plentiful, cheap, and high in 

 tannin content. The latter produces a dark- 

 red leather and has been viewed with dis- 

 favor by Filipino tanners. The Bureau of 

 Science has demonstrated that good, light- 

 colored leathers can be produced by combin- 

 ing mangrove and camachile, and a consi- 

 derable saving in the cost of tanning can thus 

 be effected. Recent investigations by the 

 Bureau of Science of a number of possible 

 tanning materials have shown that at least 

 two barks, Benguet pine and palomaria, can 

 be utilized commercially and may assist in 

 the conservation of the supply of camachile 

 bark. Palomaria is more abundant and more 

 readily secured on a commercial scale than 

 camachile. 



5. Leather. The scope and possibilities 

 of the tanning industry in the Philippine 

 Islands may be inferred from the fact that 

 about 4,000,000 pesos' worth of leather is 

 used annually. More than half of this de- 

 mand is met by importation. Large number 

 of hides and skins go to waste in the Philip- 

 pine Islands each year owing to the scarcity 

 of tanneries which might utilize them. The 

 tanneries which do exist employ primitive 

 methods practically without modifications, 

 those introduced centuries ago by the Chi- 

 nese and the leather produced is of an in- 

 ferior quality. The Bureau of Science had 

 devised methods for preventing putrefaction 

 of hides during the tanning process and has 

 demonstrated that improvements can be put 

 into effect in a Filipino tannery without 

 modification of the equipment and with 

 little increase in expense, which will yield 

 about 32 per cent more leather of higher 

 grade than that now produced. Leather 

 produced by the improved process is firm, of 

 a satisfactory color and grain, and free from 

 the disagreable odor or evidence of putrefac- 

 tion and other principal defects of native 

 leather. Much of this work was performed 

 in operating tanneries. It is my desire to 

 extend this practical demonstration to tan- 

 ners and thus enable them to judge the merits 

 of various processes for themselves and to 

 make improvements in their own establish- 

 ments. For the present, ample inprove- 

 ment may be made without greatly changing 

 their equipment or without increased outlay. 

 The work of the Bureau of Science on tanning 

 should have a very beneficial effect on the 

 Philippine tanning industry. 



6. Philippine dyss. Under normal con- 

 ditions artificial dyes have largely supplanted 

 natural materials. In some districts there 

 occur natural dyes of sufficient brillancy, 

 permanency, and quantity, to be very val- 

 uable. They are employed in the dyeing 

 of native fibers for the manufacture of hats, 

 mats, baskets, cloth, etc. A number of these 

 dyes have been investigated, and the results 

 have been published. 



Intense cultivation of plants containing 

 valuable color principles is necessary for 

 success other than for local use. The two 

 most important dye plants found in the Phil- 

 ippines are the well-known indigo and sapan 

 or sibucao. It is possible that the extra- 

 natural indigo might be profitable at the pre- 

 sent time, but under normal conditions it is 



hard to compete with the cheaper coal-tar 

 product. The sapan, which grows in great 

 abundance on Guimaras Island and parts 

 of Panay, is a widely scattered tree in the 

 Philippine Islands. Its valuable properties 

 yield a red dye, and considerable quantities 

 are annually exported to southern China. 

 The Bureau of Science has shown that the 

 wood contains Brazilian, the coloring matter 

 found in Brazilian wood. By extraction 

 with water this wood yields about 2 per cent 

 of coloring matter. 



7. Cane sugar. The production of sugar 

 ranks among the most important industries 

 of the Philippine Islands, and Negros and 

 Panay, particularly the former, are the most 

 important islands of the Archipelago in point 

 of sugar production. These two islands 

 produce about 190,000,000 kilograms annual- 

 ly, 90 per cent of which is muscavado or 

 molasses sugar. As muscavado sugar, this 

 represents an average value of 15,000,000 

 pesos and would be worth double this amount 

 as 96 sugar. The Bureau of Science has 

 shown that from 20 to 35 per cent of the 

 sucrose of the cane is lost in many mills in 

 Negros through the poor milling facilities 

 and the antiquated methods of handling 

 cane and juice. Since that time the Bureau 

 of Science has assisted the planters to increase 

 their extraction and better their product. 

 Results have been published showing the 

 financial loss due to harvesting unripe cane 

 and to demonstrate that if this is avoided 

 even in antiquated mills an actual loss can 

 be converted into a material gain. Infor- 

 mation on La fabricacion del azucar de cana, 

 the melting and reboiling of muscavado su- 

 gar, and the manufacture of 96 sugar by 

 means of open kettles and vacuum pans has 

 been published. As a result of the- work of 

 the Bureau of Science, much raw sugar is now 

 polarized before exportation and sold upon 

 its sugar content where heretofore the val- 

 uation was all made by the purchaser upon 

 receipt. There are over five hundred sugar 

 haciendas in Negros. It is my desire to in- 

 crease the extraction and introduce more 

 careful methods of handling the juice in these 

 haciendas which should increase the produc- 

 tion and improve the quality of sugar even 

 if there be no increase in the yield or in the 

 planted area. During the past season the 

 Bureau of Science has had a traveling labor- 

 tory in Negros by means of which the cane 

 has been tested from one end of the island 

 to the other. There is no marked difference 

 in purity value or in the quality of the sugar 

 produced. The cane has been almost invari- 

 ably of good quality and the sugar from good 

 to poor, depending upon the manner in which 

 it was manufactured. In principle I am oppos- 

 ed to the introduction of expensive machi- 

 nery, in the Philippine Islands if the appara- 

 tus already in use can be made serviceable, 

 but it is very difficult to make better mus- 

 cavado sugar. The installation of modern 

 sugar machinery for the manufacture of cen- 

 trifugal sugar is practically necessary. Cen- 

 tral mills are a geat advantage, for their 

 installation leaves the planter to attend to 

 his fields and to problems of fertilization and 

 irrigation. We have encouraged the use of 

 guano from local caves, the use of which has 

 greatly increased. Guano is a cheap and effi- 

 cient fertilizer for cane fields. Planters who 

 have been encouraged to fertilize and irri- 

 gate their haciendas report crop increases 

 of from 60 to 100 per cent. The Bureau of 

 Science has been of considerable assistance 

 to the planters by making reports on each 

 district where cane is planted, and these 

 were of assistance in two districts where cen- 

 tral contracts have been let. When time 

 has been available, reports on districts have 

 been made, including information which 

 will be of advantage to those who contem- 

 plate the erection of central mills, such as 

 the following: location, description of the 

 land, topography; rainfall, water supply 



afforded by rivers, artesian wells, etc.; ship- 

 ping facilities; quality of cane, yield of sugar; 

 etc. Such information from an unbiased 

 source will influence the investment of capi- 

 tal where it is so badly needed. 



In those districts which are too small, 

 the Bureau of Science has encouraged indivi- 

 dual planters to manufacture 96 centrifugal 

 sugar by making additions to their present 

 installations. This can be done in many 

 cases at an expense of about 30,000 pesos. 

 To relieve the sugar market of large supplies 

 of muscavado sugar, we have recommended 

 the melting and reboiling of this sugar in the 

 central factories now in operation. This 

 has proved to be very satisfactory and has 

 assisted both the planter and the manufacturer. 



8. Nipa palm. Almost the entire in- 

 sular production of alcohol about 10,000,000 

 proof gallons per year is made from the sap 

 of the nipa palm, which grows luxuriantly 

 in a number of places in the Philippine Is- 

 lands. Although extensive nipa swamps 

 exist in the Philippine Islands, only a few 

 are utilized commercially. The alcohol in- 

 dustry has been investigated, and methods 

 for improving the process of manufacture 

 have been described in a number of papers 

 from the Bureau of Science. 



The Bureau of Science has discovered 

 that a more profitable manner of utilizing 

 the sap of this palm is in the manufacture 

 of sugar. This is an industry new to the 

 world, and those large tracts of land in north- 

 ern Panay and elsewhere in which nothing 

 will grow but nipa should be utilized. Nipa 

 sap can be made to yield sugar at a price 

 comparable with cane, and these large areas 

 which are now practically worthless may be 

 turned into productive sugar districts. 



9. Palm brandy. The investigation of 

 alcoholic beverages made from the fermented 

 sap of nipa and coconut palms was under- 

 taken over five years ago. At that time 

 distilled spirits of 100 proof strength were 

 placed in charred barrels. Every six months 

 samples were taken for complete analysis. 

 After a time the analysis began to show 

 promising indications for a staple product. 

 At the present time two casks contain bev- 

 erages which no longer can be classed as 

 "Vino de Coco" or "Vino de Nipa," but 

 must be acknowledged to be "Philippine 

 Coco Palm Brandy" and "Philippine Nipa 

 Palm Brandy," and are beverages worthy 

 of the name of brandy. The analysis shows 

 them to be well within the requirement for 

 a good quality of brandy. All of the con- 

 stituents present to make up a good grade 

 of brandy have come to an equilibrium. 

 These beverages have a characteristic flavor 

 due to their origin. Aging for five years in 

 charred casks will produce a beverage from 

 Philippine distilled spirits which in analy- 

 sis, color, and flavor is comparable to the 

 best grades of imported brandies. 



10. Starch. Starch has many uses other 

 than for food. Starch finds use not only for 

 food, but in calico printing to prevent the 

 color from spreading, for dressing and finish- 

 ing many textiles, for laundry purposes, as 

 an adhesive paste, as a powder, as a source 

 of alcohol, in the preparation of dextrine and 

 starch sugar, and when sufficiently cheap as 

 a binder for fuel briquettes. It occurs in 

 practically all plants, but not in relatively 

 large enough quantities in most of them to 

 make its extraction profitable. An investi- 

 gation of a number of starch-producing plants 

 growing in the Philippine Islands has been 

 carried on. Among these may be mentioned 

 tapioca or cassava (Manihot utilissima roman), 

 the native name being camoting cahoy; ar- 

 rowroot (Maranta arundinacea Linn.); sin- 

 camas (Pachyrhizus erosus Urban) ; the Poly- 

 nesian arrowroot (Tacca pinnatifida Forst.); 

 yams (Dioscorea; Amorphophallus campa- 

 nul-atus Blume); seeds of Cycas circinalis 

 Linn.; and the sugar palm (Arenga saccha- 

 rifera Labill.). The most promising of all 



