PHILIPPINE FIBERS AND FIBROUS SUBSTANCES. 243 



It is to be noted that the above figures refer to the limited and un- 

 organized industry of supplying the seacoast towns with selected bamboo 

 for building purposes. It will readily be seen that present costs are 

 excessive and of no value except for illustration and comparison and 

 they may be reduced by improved practices. At the same labor cost of 

 cutting the yield per unit area may be considerably increased by em- 

 ploying stems of greater length. Over 50 per cent of the present cost 

 is ^consumed in land transportation by an obsolete method which would 

 largely be eliminated by the use of modern methods of conveying the 

 bamboo to a central factory situated near the place where it grows where 

 good, clear water for manufacturing purposes is available. 



QUANTITY OF BAMBOO AVAILABLE. 



An experimental cutting for the purpose of determining the yield of 

 commercial bamboo per unit area was made under the supervision of the 

 Philippine Bureau of Forestr}^ as follows : 



Location 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) southwest of Lamay, Bataan, 3.75 kilometers 

 (2 miles) in a direct line from the seacoast. 



Date cut, September 17, 1909. 



Elevation, 80 meters (250 feet). 



Area of plot, 30 by 33.3 meters (0.1 hectare). 



Number of stems cut from the plot, 1,075. 



Length of the iveighed stems, 7.5 meters (25 feet). 



Green weight of 1,075 stems, 6.181 -metric tons. 



Air-dry weight of 1,075 stems, 3.524 metric tons. 



The plot selected was fairly level, which facilitated the cutting; in other 

 respects it was considered to be representative of the average stand of commercial 

 bamboo over an indefinite area in the immediate vicinity. The plot was cut clean 

 of all standing bamboo, each stem was severed about 0.5 meter from the ground, 

 trimmed into lengths of 7.5 meters and then cut into shorter sections for con- 

 venience in weighing. 



Later, on October 25, the plot was again visited and 12 bamboos over 9 meters 

 (30 feet) in length were cut, sawed into short sections, and weighed. They were 

 then crushed, baled, and brought to the laboratory for a determination of the 

 air-dry weight and the percentage of nodes. The green weight of 12 stems was 

 86.36 kilos, or 7.2 kilos per stem; the air-dry weight was 49 kilos, or 4 kilos 

 per stem; the air-dry weight, minus the nodes, was 45 kilos, or 3.75 kilos per stem. 



Applying the data thus obtained to the figures of the yield on the 

 experimental plot, it is seen that 0.1 hectare would yield fully 4 metric 

 tons of air-dry material free from nodes, and that this weight is rep- 

 resented by 1,075 stems, or the approximate unit of quantity upon which 

 the present labor costs 'of cutting and handling are based. Pour metric 

 tons of bamboo will produce approximately 2 short tons of pulp. Even 

 at 10 pesos per thousand stems, which is the average market price in 

 Orani, the cost of sufficient bamboo to make a ton of pulp is at the very 



