148 The National Geographic Magazine 



face appear almost worthless, owing to 

 weathering, may, with depth, develop 

 into a better quality. Gold also is very 

 widely distributed, but thus far the 

 veins and placers are poor and cannot 

 be worked at a profit under present con- 

 ditions of transportation and labor. 

 Valuable deposits of copper and iron 

 have been discovered, and in years past 

 have been worked to a limited extent. 

 Indications of asphaltum and petroleum 

 have also been discovered, yet the min- 

 eral production of the islands was in 

 1903 practically nothing. 



Coal is now being mined on Batan 

 Island by the United States, which has 

 leased a tract of coal land, for the sup- 

 ply of the army transports. Analyses 

 show that it equals the best Japanese 

 coal. Some is also mined by private 

 parties. 



It is altogether probable that in the 

 near future the Philippine Islands will 

 produce not only enough coal for their 

 own supply, but may furnish coal for a 

 large part of the commerce of the Pa- 

 cific — a fact of prime importance in de- 

 termining the course of that commerce. 



Gold has been mined for centuries by 

 the Igorots in Lepanto-Bontoc and Ben- 

 guet, both from veins and placers. The 

 total output has been small, as both 

 classes of deposit are of low grade, but 

 the Igorot is contented with low wages, 

 especially if he is working for himself. 

 Since American occupation this moun- 

 tain range has been prospected by Amer- 

 icans and several hundred claims have 

 been located. Little work has been 

 done on them, and it is not believed that 

 any deposits likely to prove profitable 

 under present conditions of labor and 

 transportation have been discovered. 



APPARENTLY THE ISLANDS HAVE 

 ENOUGH GOOD IRON ORES TO 

 BUILD UP EXTENSIVE 

 MANUFACTORIES 



The deposit of iron ore in Angat and 

 neighboring parts of Bulacan province 



appears to be extensive and rich. The 

 ore is hematite and magnetite, princi- 

 pally the latter, and runs from 50 per 

 cent to 63 per cent of metallic iron. 

 The deposits extend over a belt 40 

 miles in length, varying greatly in 

 breadth, lying on the west slope of the 

 range which forms the eastern portion 

 of the province. The ore was mined to 

 a small extent during the Spanish dom- 

 ination, but without financial success. 

 L,ittle prospecting of the deposits in 

 place has been made, the ore having 

 been taken mainly from boulders on the 

 surface. It was smelted with charcoal 

 in small, crude blast furnaces. 



This property has been examined and 

 reported on by the mining bureau of the 

 Insular government, and it appears prob- 

 able that it may be made of great value 

 to the archipelago, not onty rendering 

 it independent of the rest of the world 

 in matter of pig iron, but it may build 

 up extensive manufactories of iron and 

 steel in these islands. 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 



The most important commercial prod- 

 uct of the islands is abaca, or Manila 

 hemp. This is indigenous to all prov- 

 inces, but the fiber is unlike the hemp 

 of other tropical countries, and is found 

 only in the Philippine Islands. The 

 value of the exportations of this prod- 

 uct exceeded nineteen millions of dol- 

 lars in 1902, or was two-thirds of the 

 value of all exports. Nearly all of this 

 material is shipped in the raw state to 

 Europe and America for manufacture 

 into cordage. Although a large area 

 was devoted to the cultivation of hemp, 

 much of the product that was exported 

 was gathered wild. 



The exportation of the dried kernel 

 of the cocoanut, known as copra, is 

 steadily increasing, and promises to be- 

 come of great commercial importance. 

 The value of the exports of copra and 

 cocoanutsfor 1902 was $2, 701, 783. The 

 cocoanut palm flourishes luxuriously in 



