XI, A, 3 Agcaoili: Vegetables of the Philippines 97 



(II.) , pungapong (T.). This plant is locally very abundant, but 

 is not cultivated. The young stems are cooked and eaten, but 

 cannot be used raw on account of the presence of myriads of 

 minute stinging crystals of oxalate of lime. The tubers are also 

 sometimes used for food and for feeding hogs. 



Bamboo shoots. — Caiia (Sp.), rabong (II.), labong (T., Pam.), 

 tambo (V.). 



Banana-flower buds. — Musa sapientum L., corazon (Sp.), 

 susup (II.), piiso nang saguing (T., Pam.), puso (V.). Bamboo 

 shoots and banana-flower buds are used only in making salads. 

 Bamboo shoots are abundant and cheap because of the plenti- 

 fulness of bamboo and the quick growth of the sprouts. Only 

 the young shoot is used in this preparation. 



The bud of the banana is plentiful, but as cutting the bud from 

 the plant means the loss of a bunch of bananas, one understands 

 why its use for salads is not more general. Both of the above 

 make delicious salads. 



A study of the cost of the vegetables examined shows that 

 the price is relatively high. This condition will continue until 

 each inhabitant has learned to have his own vegetable garden. 

 In a climate such as this, where vegetation flourishes the year 

 around, garden produce should be plentiful and the prices reason- 

 able. Certain kinds of greens are cheap in a sense, but when 

 one considers their food value they are found to be good for 

 use only as a relish. Parts of the year some of the people are 

 dependent on such greens for sustenance, because they have not 

 yet learned the food value of the various vegetables. 



The highest percentage of protein and highest food value are 

 given by the various beans. In a country where large quanti- 

 ties of rice, composed chiefly of carbohydrates, are consumed, 

 a food containing a high percentage of protein and some fat 

 should supplement the diet. Native meat other than fish and 

 chicken is scarce, and when one considers the high price of this 

 commodity throughout the world, it would appear to be necessary 

 to obtain a substitute for it in the diet. If the protein and fat 

 food requirement is to be dependent on meat for fulfillment, the 

 poorer people can hardly look forward to enjoying a more nearly 

 perfect diet. An ideal food of this type is the soy bean. How- 

 ever, officials of the Philippine Bureau of Agriculture inform me 

 that they have not succeeded in profitably growing the soy bean 

 in the Islands. But they have not given up hope of ultimately 

 succeeding and doubtless have good chances of eventually ac- 

 complishing their aim, since there are so many varieties of this 

 bean that one or several of them are almost sure to grow here. 



