8 



PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



Building Materials. Plants furnish our most useful 

 building materials. While some houses have stone 

 walls, and roofs of tile or iron, these materials are not 

 nearly so much used as lumber. Many houses in the 

 Philippines are built entirely of nipa, bamboo, and 

 rattan. 



Medicines. Most of the medicines are furnished us by 

 plants. A book about Philippine 

 medicinal plants has been written by 

 Dr. Pardo de Tavera. 



Plants furnish us many other useful 

 substances, such as rubber, gutta 

 percha, resins, and most kinds of wax, 

 and gums. 



Soil enriched by Plants. Plants also 

 improve the soil. Most plants cannot 

 grow where plants have not grown 

 before. The finest soil is where 

 many plants have lived and died and 

 decayed. 



Beauty of Plants. Plants make beau 

 tiful the places where they grow, and 

 beauty has very real value. 



FIG. 5. Seedling bean, 

 showing leaves, cotyle- 

 dons, stem, and root 



THE PARTS OF PLANTS 



The Root. The first part of the plant which comes 

 out of the seed grows downward. This part of the plant 

 is called the root. The function, or work, of the root is 

 to fasten the plant securely in its place, and to take from 



