l62 PHILIPPINES 



grazing lands. A sod cannot form except on level land suited to 

 tillage. The slopes erode as fast as the tree growth is cleared 

 from them. This should not be imderstood to mean that there 

 is not a large acreage which is being used as range in the Philip- 

 pines but it is in relatively small bodies, poor in quality and dete- 

 riorating in carrying capacity. None of it is worth more than 

 50 cents an acre for this purpose alone. 



Comparatively little is as yet known in regard to the producing 

 value of tropical timberlands. The problem of determining the 

 age of stands is more complicated than in temperate regions 

 because annual rings are not formed. It becomes necessary, 

 therefore, to depend upon records of growth. From these it 

 would appear that the better watered soils can produce stands of 

 merchantable saw timber in less than 50 years. Hence it follows 

 that tree production or forestry is second to tillage as a use of 

 land. On the steeper and more arid soils it is often the only 

 profitable use. As a general policy it may safely be stated that 

 a change from forestry to tillage or grazing will not be profitable 

 in the long run unless the land can be devoted to cultivated crops. 



Land Titles. — As explained above, the title to the principal 

 forest areas in the Philippines is in the United States by direct 

 transfer from the Spanish Government. In the few cases where 

 timberland is in private hands a satisfactory title is hard to 

 obtain. Accurate surveys are practically unknown and many 

 transfers unrecorded. Then, too, the problem of undivided 

 ownership often occurs. For example the title to a tract of land 

 may rest in the descendants of a grantee several generations back 

 without any attempt by the heirs to parcel the land out. 



