594 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 



last fiscal year and the assessed value was only 3 per 

 ton. 



Rattan. There are about 30 more or less distinct 

 varieties of rattans recognized in the Archipelago; 

 these are produced by the climbing palms of the genera 

 Calamus, Dacmonorops and Korthalsia. A consider- 

 able quantity of this material is used locally in the 

 manufacture of furniture and in tying bamboo sticks 

 in the construction of houses, fences, etc. Only about 

 3,000 tons per annum are 'exported, according to the 

 Bureau of Forestry statistics. It is possible, however, 

 that some of this product finds its way into Sandakan 

 and Singapore from Western and Southern Mindanao 

 without the export being recorded. The assessed value is 

 only 10 per ton. The export figure could undoubtedly 

 be trebled very promptly if the price were somewhat 

 increased. 



Gutta-percha. Western and Central Mindanao have 

 for years produced a considerable portion of the world's 

 gutta-percha; on account of the customs of the Chinese 

 middlemen, however, practically all this material has 

 been handled through either Singapore or Sandakan, 

 and consequently the Philippines has not received due 

 credit for the production. Several species of Sapo- 

 taceae, especially of the genus Palaquium, usually large 

 trees of the dense forests, are the origin of true gutta. 

 A firm has recently been established on the Rio Grande 

 river at Cotabato and a plant has been erected with 

 facilities for cleaning the raw product and turning out 

 a very high-grade article in cubes and blocks instead of 

 the old balls and twists which frequently contained 

 stones, chips, bark, etc., when they reached 'the hands of 

 the Chinese merchant. Only about 85 tons were 

 recorded as having been exported during the last fiscal 

 year. The assessed value was 70 per ton. 



Rubber. A few large vines of the forests of the 

 Southern Islands produce genuine caoutchouc, but 

 though sometimes collected by the wild tribes, it is 

 mixed with gutta-percha and is sold at the same price to 

 the Chinese dealers. Pararneria philippensis is the prin- 

 cipal of these vines, and one or two species of 



