1300 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



77, and for May the warmest month 82.9, while the 

 mean temperature during that period was 80.42. The 

 rainfall averages for February .46 in. For the 5 dry 

 months, Dec., Jan., Feb., Mar. and Apr., the total 

 average is 5.47 in., and for the 6 wet months, June, 

 July, Aug., Sept., Oct., and Nov., the total average is 

 65.65 in. Observations show that the islands differ 



1750. Philippine Islands, to show the general form of the archipelago. 



from one another but slightly in temperature, while 

 there is considerable variation on the same island due 

 to altitudes. Portions of Luzon are cool the entire year. 

 Upon the basis usually allowed in tropical countries for 

 decrease in temperature due to elevation, an elevation 

 of 5,000 ft. would give an annual mean of 60.42. There 

 are tablelands where the mean would not be over 70 F. 

 Different portions of the same island show also wide 

 divergence in rainfall owing to mountain ranges. 



The soils are quite varied, including not only all the 

 grades from sandy to stiff clay, but limestone, slaty, 

 volcanic, alluvial, etc. 



While the Philippines are adapted by climate and soil 

 to the production of almost everything that can be 

 grown in the tropics, the Spaniards, pursuing their 

 usual policy, limited their production to very narrow 

 lines. North Luzon, including the extensive valley of 

 the Rio Grande de Cagayan and its affluents, was 

 chiefly devoted to tobacco; the low, flat, clay loam lands 

 east and north of Manila, including most of the prov- 

 inces of Manila and Bulacan and a portion of Pampanga, 

 is farmed in rice. To the south of Manila the provinces 

 of Batangas, Cavit6 and Laguna produce considerable 

 coffee; while the long, irregular promontory forming 



the southeast of Luzon, with its moist, volcanic soils, is 

 the hemp region. Some of the smaller islands south of 

 Luzon, particularly Masbate and Ticao, produce hemp 

 principally. Large quantities of sugar are produced in 

 Luzon, chiefly on the sandy loam and alluvial lands in 

 the provinces of Pampanga, Cavite and Laguna, though 

 sugar estates may be found in nearly all portions of 

 this island. Sugar is the principal product 

 of Panay, Negros and Cebu. The following 

 report of the principal exports of the Philip 

 pines for 1897 gives a condensed statement 

 of the present agricultural situation : 



. Manila hemp $8,571,850 



Sugar 6,911,535 



Coffee 45,648 



Tobacco and cigars 2,128,380 



Cocoanuts and copra 2,687,978 



Sapan wood 23,323 



Indigo 50,825 



Liquid indigo 21,554 



Ylang Ylang oil 24,937 



Candlenut oil 15,755 



Candlenuts 19,464 



Copal 22,562 



Fruits 8, 393 



Aloe fiber 13,687 



Sesame 2,592 



Betel-nuts 382 



The principal cereals that can be pro- 

 duced are rice, corn, barley and tropical 

 wheat. The general plan for producing 

 rice is very crude. The rice is planted in 

 a seed-bed, properly prepared, the last of 

 April. The fore part of June, after the 

 rainy season has saturated the soil, the na- 

 tive takes his water buffalo and plows 

 a small field, previously surrounded by a 

 levee. The water and soil make a thin 

 mud; into this he sets the rice plants from 

 a seed-bed, or he occasionally sows his rice 

 broadcast. The heavy succeeding rains 

 flood the field and perfect the crop, which 

 usually matures and is harvested in Decem- 

 ber. At harvest the rice is hand-cut with 

 an implement similar to a corn hook, but 

 lighter. The rice is bound in small bun- 

 dles, and when partially dry is laid upon 

 the levees in rick's with the heads hanging 

 over the bank. When cured the grain is re- 

 moved with the hatchel or by tramping. 



There are large areas adapted to the pro- 

 duction of maize, but the Indian rarely 

 gives much attention to cultivation; hence 

 the results are small, except upon new 

 lands. With more knowledge of the maize 

 plant and with more industry it should be 

 a profitable crop. Barley and glutinous 

 wheat are winter crops, suited to the cli- 

 mate and well adapted to supplement the 

 food supply. Limited quantities of beans 

 are produced. It is not probable that any of the cereals 

 will be raised in surplus quantities, sufficient for export. 

 Fiber material, sugar, tobacco, fruits and nuts will con- 

 tinue to be the leading exports, with a rapid increase 

 of the last two, under American control. 



The Philippines are more celebrated for their fiber 

 than for any other product. The best known is Manila 

 hemp (Musa textilis), though there is some export of 

 Aloe fiber (maguey) and pineapple cloth (pina). Manila 

 hemp grows luxuriantly on the rich volcanic soils of 

 the soxithern Luzon peninsula. It belongs to the same 

 family with the banana, and its growth is similar. The 

 trunk is 8-10 in. in diam. and is formed entirely of con- 

 centric leaf -stems or petioles. It is 8-10 ft. high at 

 maturity. It is renewed by offshoots that spring from 

 the base of the old plant, which are also used to set new 

 fields. One setting of a plantation is good for ten 

 years. As soon as the trunk is mature it is cut and 

 each of the thick, fleshy leaf-sheaths of which it is 

 composed is removed. The leaf-stem is then placed on 

 a bench; a bar of wood with teeth on the under side is 

 firmly pressed upon it while two men pull the stem, 

 scraping the pulpy material from the fiber. The fiber is 

 then hung up to dry. Four men will clean 150 pounds 



