November, 1911.] 



401 



Edible Products. 



will be gladly given by the Director of 

 Lands, or by the Secretary of the 

 Interior. 



Taxes. 



In the provinces organized under the 

 regular provincial government act, taxes 

 on land and improvements thereon (by 

 "improvements" are meant buildings, 

 not growing crops or coconut trees) may 

 not exceed seven-eighths of one per 

 centum per annum, on what is estimated 

 to be the true sale value of the property. 

 In the provinces organized under the 

 special provincial government act, 

 namely, the Mountain Province and 

 Nueva Vizcaya in Northern Luzon, 

 Mindoro, Palawan, and Agusan Province 

 in the Island of Mindanao, taxes are 

 one-half of one per centum per annum 

 on the value of all real estate and 

 personal property in excess of $100-00. 

 In the latter provinces, therefore, coco- 

 nut trees are taxable. They are usually 

 appraised at $0 50 to $100 each. In the 

 Moro Province the taxes are three-fourths 

 of one per centum per annum on the 

 value of all personal property, and real 

 estate, including improvements thereon. 

 Re-valuations _ are made once in five 

 years. 



It is needless to say that the above 

 remarks apply only to land which is 

 actually owned by individuals and to 

 the improvements thereon. Land which 

 is rented from the Government is cot 

 subject to taxation, but the improve- 

 ments on it are. 



Cost of Clearing Forest and Brush 

 Land. 



The net cost of clearing forest land 

 (by clearing is meant leaving it ready 

 for planting) will obviously vary with the 

 character of the forest, which may be 

 such as to involve a larger or smaller 

 amount of work in felling and burning 

 trees, stumping, etc., and may give a 

 larger or smaller return from merchant- 

 able timber and firewood. The follow- 

 ing figures are given by Mr. C. H. Lamb, 

 Superintendent of the Iwahig Penal 

 Colony, and are based on large experi- 

 ence. Mr. Lamb keeps strict account of 

 all labour employed and charges it up 

 at a daily wage of $0 25. 



Felling trees, up to $1'00 per acre. 



Cutting up trees and burning them, 

 $2-00 to $16-00. 



Stumping, $2-00 to $30-00. 



First ploughing, $06-0 to $2-00. 



Mr. Lamb gives the following as a safe 

 and conservative estimate of the average 

 cost of clearing one acre of land ;— 

 51 



Felling trees ... $1-00 



Cutting and burning ... 4"00 



Stumping ... 800 



Ploughing ... 280 



Total ... $15-80 



per acre. Under the most favourable 

 conditions the minimum cost is estimat- 

 ed by him at $5-60 per acre. 



The above sums represent gross 

 expenditure. In some kinds of forest 

 considerable returns may be expected. 

 In Palawan, for instance, Mr. Lamb 

 states that from 10 to 100 logs of good 

 timber, which will net from $20-00 to 

 $20000, can ordinarily be had from a 

 hectare of land, so that on such land 

 there may be an actual profit from the 

 timber cut, aiid the net cost should not 

 exceed $8'00 per acre. 



The following information relative to 

 the clearing of forest land was given by 

 Mr. J. H. Shipley, Manager of the Min- 

 danao Estates Company plantation at 

 Davao ; one man can clear *05 of an acre 

 per day of 12 hours, or an acre in 20 

 days. At $0 25 per day this would make 

 the cost of clearing an acre $5 00. 



Mr. Frederick Lewis, formerly in 

 charge of a hemp plantation in Davao, 

 now Lieutenant-Governor of the Sub- 

 province of Bukidnon, estimates the 

 gross cost of clearing forest land at 

 $15'00 per acre. 



Governor Monreal of Sorsogon stated 

 that 30 men would clear 250 hectares of 

 land in a year. Estimating the number 

 of working days at 300 and the daily 

 wage at $0-25, this would make the cost 

 of clearing that amount of land $2,250 00, 

 which is equivalent to $3'60 per acre. 



Mr. Cadwallader of the Cadwallader 

 Lumber Company states that four men 

 with crosscut saws will fell the timber 

 on a quarter of an acre of heavy forest 

 land in a day. With a daily wage of 

 $0-25 this would make the cost of felling 

 trees $4'00 per acre. 



Sr. Vicente Diaz, formerly Governor 

 of the Province of Leyte, makes the 

 following estimate relative to the cost 

 of clearing land : 10 men in 2 days will 

 cut the trees and brush on one acre at 

 a cost of $2 00. After a month one man 

 burns the ground over in one day at a 

 cost of $0-10 per acre. The fire may con- 

 tinue to burn for three or four days. 

 When it has burned out 10 men go in, 

 and while some of them pile the half- 

 burnt wood and clean the land well, 

 others reburn it, at a cost of $1-00, 

 making the total cost $3*10 per acre. 



