90 PEOPLES OF THE PHILIPPINES 
In connection with the figures just cited, it may be 
mentioned that the number of acres devoted in 1903 to 
maize was a quarter of a million, to coconut three- 
eighths of a million, to ‘‘hemp,” the chief export, over 
half a million, to rice between three and four millions. 
Hemp and Cotton. The Spaniards found the 
natives cultivating two plants for use in spinning and 
weaving: cotton and the ‘‘hemp”’ which has been men- 
tioned as being in reality a small inedible banana, the 
abaca, Musa textilis. From the stalks of this, strong 
fibers are stripped which are much prized for civilized 
cordage. The Filipino wove and still weaves cloth from 
the fibers. The attractive textiles of the Bagobo are 
made in this material. Cotton was however of no less 
importance, and while its production in the islands is 
small because of a Spanish policy of discouraging or 
forbidding its cultivation in favor of tobacco and other 
monopolies, a number of pagan tribes still wear clothing 
‘ of cotton. The Mangyan grow the plant today. The 
Christian Filipino has added a new textile material, 
pina, that is pineapple leaf fiber, from which, either plain 
or mixed with silk, valuable fabrics of the most beauti- 
ful semi-transparent finish are woven, both for men’s 
and women’s clothing. The Manila hemp plant appears 
to be indigenous to the Philippines, and was probably 
first used as it grew wild. Cotton, on the other hand, 
does not seem to be native, and was in all likelihood 
imported from the western East Indies, whence in 
turn it may be derived from India proper, the region to 
which all indications point as the original home of 
cotton culture and manufacture. 
Houses. The Filipino house is much the same 
among civilized and uncivilized tribes, and has changed 
but little since the islands were first visited by Euro- 
peans. It is a structure of wood or bamboo, with 

