THE IRRIGATION AGE 189 



Spain. The water is raised from the river lever to reservoirs, and 

 from the latter it is conveyed by means of bamboo pipes or home-made 

 stone or clay pipes to the fields where the water is distributed to best 

 advantage in the rows of coffee plants. 



MILES OF TOBACCO. 



I rode through miles of tobacco country on Luzon, in the valley of 

 Cagayan. When modern methods of irrigation, machinery and man- 

 agement are introduced the tobacco crops of this section of the Philip- 

 pines will not only be doubled but improved in grade. This valley is 

 drained by many streams emptying into the Rio Grande de Cagayan. 

 In this valley the river forms the natural irrigation for a good portion 

 of the year. The dry portion is what should be looked out for, and 

 this could be arranged if there were proper equipments available. 

 The rainy season this river overflowed the entire valley and the plan- 

 tations were submerged. When the river gradually settled to its for- 

 mer level, a deposit of rich residue remained which greatly improved 

 the soil and made the following crop exceedingly profitable. The 

 plowing and breaking of the soil begins in October. During December, 

 January, February and March the dryness of the season is felt and it 

 is during this period that artificial irrigation is needed. There are 

 hundreds of natives employed in this valley and thousands of Chinese 

 coolie labor. Many Americans and other foreigners are engaged in 

 the tobacco growing interests here, and all suffer from lack of rain for 

 the plantations during the dry season. During this dryness many of 

 the workmen are thrown out of occupation, and if there were means 

 for introducing irrigating establishments, these men would be avail- 

 able for service in putting in plant and piping. 



CHOCOLATE. 



The Philippines have been noted for the cocoa bean for many 

 years. There are large plantations in operation at the present time, 

 on which tons of the cocoa bean are produced yearly. In addition to 

 the wholesale production of cocoa, there are very many families who 

 devote a portion of their lands to the private raising of the cocoa bean. 

 The extensive farms which have been planted from year to year 

 have in many instances proved failures due to the lack of regular and 

 proper irrigation. Some foreign capitalists undertook to go into the 

 cocoa bean raising business on Panay island a short while ago, and 

 much money was invested in laying out the plantation and putting in 

 the needed equipment of tools and machinery. The first year was an 

 unusually dry one and the enterprise failed. Other instances might 

 be noted of a like character. The climate is particularly adapted for 

 the growing of the cocoa bean and very many housewives earn con- 

 siderable money by having small patches of the plant about their 

 homes. The cocoa bean is gathered in the shell in the fall and is 

 spread in the sun to dry. Next comes the baking, after which the 



