Edible Products. 



402 



[November, 1911. 



Cost of Clearing Grass Land. 



I have experienced much difficulty in 

 getting reliable figures as to the cost 

 of clearing grass land. I have often 

 been assured that it was not necessary 

 really to clear such land belore planting 

 coconuts, and that it would suffice to 

 take up the sod in the immediate 

 vicinity of the trees, but a very serious 

 objection to such procedure is found 

 in the fact that tiees planted in this 

 way are exposed to risk of total des- 

 truction by fire. During the dry season 

 cogon grass is highly inflammable, and 

 coconut trees are very readily injured 

 by heat. Furthermore, my own observ- 

 ation is that for at least three years 

 coconut trees seldom do well when 

 planted in grass land which is not 

 thoroughly ploughed. 



Most of the unforested land suitable 

 for coconuc planting in the Philippine 

 Islands is covered either with the tall, 

 coarse grass known as cogon, or with a 

 species of bamboo grass which closely 

 resembles sugar cane in appearance, 

 cogon grass being by far the commoner 

 of the two. In order to clean cogon 

 land the grass must first be thoroughly 

 burned off and the land must then be 

 ploughed and harrowed repeatedly so as 

 to get rid of the roots. If this is not 

 done, the cogon will promptly re-estab- 

 lish itself. If native ploughs and 

 harrows are used, the land must be gone 

 over four times the first year and the 

 minimum cost will be |2'00 per acre. It 

 should be gone over twice during the 

 succeeding year at a minimum cost of 

 $r00. This cost is based on the employ- 

 ment of one native, with two carabaos, 

 a plough and a harrow for each eight 

 acres of land, the native taking the 

 catch crops which he raises as pay for 

 his work, so that the cost is represented 

 by the deterioration of animals and 

 tools. 



Cost and Value of Catch Crops. 



According to Superintendent C. H. 

 Lamb, planting with corn or rice will 

 cost from $0'80 to $2-00 per acre. In 

 Palawan the minimum returns received 

 from an acre of land is 8 bushels of rice, 

 the average maximum is 20, although 

 30 is not uncommon. The average value 

 of the unhusked rice is 81 '25 per bushel, 

 giving an average return from the rice 

 crop of from $10*00 to $25'00 per acre. 



According to Mr. Lamb three catch 

 crops may advantageously be grown. 

 He recommends first a crop of corn and 

 subsequently two crops of mountain 

 rice, by which time the coconuts will 

 be too large to permit further advant- 

 ageous cultivation of rice or corn. 



The second and third crops may give 

 a profit, or may only suffice to cover the 

 cost of keeping the land clean and under 

 cultivation, which is necessary in order 

 that the young trees may make their 

 best growth. It is obvious that as the 

 roots of the coconut trees extend, the 

 amount of ground available for cultiv- 

 ation will become less, while the growing 

 tops will throw a constantly increasing 

 amount of shade. 



Sr. Vicente Diaz, formerly Governor 

 of the Province of Ley te, estimates that 

 four men will plant rice or corn on two 

 and a half acres of land in a day. The 

 cost of a bushel of seed, which is 

 sufficient, is $1 '25, and the total cost of 

 planting is, therefore, $P"90 per acre. 

 This crop is given one cleaning, which 

 takes 10 men one day, at a cost of $2'50. 

 The harvesting of the rice crop takes 

 10 men one day, at a cost of $2 50. 

 The crop is estimated at 20 bushels, 

 worth $1-00 per bushel or $20"00. 



He estimates the crop of corn at 6 

 bushels of shelled corn per acre. It is 

 usually worth $1 '00 per bushel or $6-00 

 per acre. 



According to Mr- C. H. Lamb, the first 

 year's catch crop should yield a profit 

 which should go far toward paying the 

 cost of clearing the land, and the second 

 and third years should yield catch crops 

 which will at least pay for the cost of 

 cultivating the land. During the fourth, 

 fifth and sixth years, by the end of 

 which time the trees will have begun 

 to bear, it will be necessary to keep the 

 land clean, and there will be no returns 

 from catch crops. He states that the 

 cost of such clearing will average $2'00 

 per acre. 



Mr. Frederick Lewis estimates the cost 

 per year of keeping an acre of land 

 clean at $5*00. 



Sr. \ icente Diaz estimates that 10 men 

 can clean two and a half acres of ground 

 in one day, at a cost of $1*00 per acre. 



In general it may be said that where 

 soil conditions are favourable for catch 

 crops, actual experience has shown that 

 under good management they can be 

 made to pay approximately the cost of 

 the plantation up to the time the coconut 

 trees fruit. 



Cost of Clearing Mangrove Land. 



Special consideration must be given to 

 mangrove land, as the returns from 

 firewood and tan bark can, according to 

 Mr, C. H. Lamb, invariably be depended 

 upon to pay the cost of clearing and 

 planting. Neither rice nor corn can be 

 grown profitably on this land because of 

 its character. Tapioca, peanuts, and 



