MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 593 



of yacal (Ho pea plagata) and guisoc (Shorea balangeran). 

 This is collected by making incisions through the bark. 

 The oil hardens to a brittle brownish-black resin and is 

 collected in this form. It is used locally for torches 

 and is often mixed with softer resin for caulking." 2 



Wood Oils. The principal Philippine wood oils are 

 Balao, produced by several species of Dipt ero carpus 

 and Anisaptera, and Supa, a thin pitch-like oil, produced 

 by a leguminous tree (Sindora supa, M. et R.) These 

 wood oils are gathered in a very wasteful manner for 

 local use, and considerable quantities of valuable 

 timber trees are destroyed by the crude methods of 

 native collectors. Cup-shaped incisions are made in 

 the base of the trunk, into which the oil oozes; firing 

 the cut surface greatly increases the flow. About 

 50,000 litres (over 12,000 gallons) are estimated to be 

 produced throughout the Archipelago; the assessed 

 value is o.io peso per litre (i/- per gallon). There is at 

 present no export, these oils being used only by the 

 Filipinos for lighting and, when mixed with other 

 substances, for caulking boats. 



Dyewoods. Only one wood of this class, known as 

 Sibucao, or Sappan wood (Caesalpinia Sap pan), is of 

 any commercial importance at present. This tree is 

 frequently planted as a timber crop, especially in the 

 island of Panay in the Visayas. Only the bright colored 

 heart-wood is used. Several dye-stuffs are produced 

 in the province of Cavite, but are of merely local import- 

 ance. Over i, 600 tons of dyewood, mostly from Iloilo 

 province in Panay, were produced in the fiscal year 1913; 

 the assessed value is 11.50 pesos per 100 kilograms 

 (i los. per ton). Besides Sappan wood about 81 tons 

 of dye barks were also produced in the last fiscal year, 

 worth about 5 per ton. 



Tan Barks. Although there is a considerable quantity 

 of this material in evidence throughout the Archipelago, 

 there is no real industry except for local requirements 

 at present. Only about 880 tons were produced in the 



2 H. N. Whitford : " The Forests of the Philippines," Part I. 

 38 



