TORREYA 



July, 1915. 

 Vol. 15 No. 7 



BOTANICAL SKETCHES FROM THE ASIATIC 

 TROPICS 



By Henry Allan Gleason 



II. The Philippines. 



{Continued from June Torreya) 



The problem of dealing with the cogon grasses in the Philip- 

 pines is a serious one. The two chief species, Imperata cylindri- 

 ca and Saccharum spontaneum, grow in dense masses, with peren- 

 nial rhizomes, and are very difficult to eradicate when once 

 established. Their seeds are distributed by the wind, and soon 

 take possession of the abandoned native clearings. After the 

 grasses have completely occupied such a field, it is used only for 

 pasturage, or else abandoned completely. Fires burn off the 

 cogon every dry season, destroying the young trees that may 

 have germinated and even encroaching somewhat upon the 

 forest. As a result of agricultural neglect and continued burning, 

 the cogon has occupied an immense area in the Philippines, 

 changing it from agricultural land to waste. Under native 

 control, the cogon will never be reclaimed until the population 

 ultimately becomes so dense that reclamation is an economic 

 necessity. In the meantime, its area is gradually extending 

 and yearly reducing the area available for agriculture. 



Seen from a boat coming into Manila harbor from the north, 

 the high mountains along the west coast of Luzon, north of 

 Manila, appear to be half or more covered with cogon, with 

 the forest occupying only the more precipitous slopes or 

 the deeper ravines. North of Manila in the lowlands near 

 Dagupan, the railway crosses an immense tract of cogon prob- 

 [No. 6, Vol. 15 of Torreya, comprising pp. 117-138, was issued 16 July 1915] 



139 



