Jan. 1, 1904.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
TEXTILE OR FIBRE PLANTS. 
Textile plants, as are used in the manufaotnre 
of cloth and cordage are hemp, cotton, pineapple, 
cabo negro, rattan, ramie, agave and pandan. 
Pineapple furnishea the fibre for the pina cloth 
BO much in vogue in the ornamental dreaa of 
women. Hemp furnishes the material for the 
chief wear of men and for rope and cordaee. 
Oil-producing plants are the coconut, castor bean, 
lumbang, sesama and the peanut. The coconut, 
however, is of greatest importance and value. It 
not ooly produces an oil of great medicinal value, 
but also copra and fibre for calking and cordage 
purposes. By tapping the central bud that crowns 
the tree, tuba, or a kind of wiiie is extracted, 
which, fomented, becomes vinegar, and, distilled, 
a kind of brandy. The woody part of the shell 
is used for rosaries and many other articles. The 
trunks of the palm serve as pillars to support 
cases, and the hollow part of the trunk is created 
into oil barrels, tuba casks and water pipes. Coco- 
aats and their products are largely exported. 
DYE AND STABCH PLANTS. 
Dye and starch plants belong to the economio 
subdivision of plant life in the islands, and they 
are rich in the order of their importance, viz,. 
Indigo, safBower, salicican, ananaplea, aguisip, sibucao 
bacauan, arrowroot, buri, cassava, bagsang, lumbia, 
oanong and bauga. The alcoholic plants are sugar 
cane, nipa, sorghum, coconut, buri, camona, maize, 
and the aromatic plants are tobacco, coffee, choco- 
late, mace, betel, cinnamon and pepper. And, 
coupled with these, are a large number of medi- 
cinal plants, all of which find a ready market in 
all parts of America and Europe. 
Vegetables of all sorts grow in abundant richness, 
not only in size but flavour, especially such as have 
been grown from American seeds since the sovereignty 
of the flag of the United States asserted itself, Irish 
potatoes grow to richest size and flavour in north 
Luzon, while sweet potatoes thrive in every island 
of the group where this cultivation has been 
attempted. 
The Agricultural Bureau has been experimenting 
with the cereals grown in temperate zones with 
varied success, yet the opinion is expressed that 
both wheat, oats, rye and barley will do well in 
the temperate portions of the islands when planted 
during the temperate season. 
KESINS, GUM3 AND ESSENTIAL OILS, 
Aside from this, the Philippines are rich in resins, 
gums and trees that produce flowers from which 
essential oils are distilled. Chief among these are 
Ilang-Ilang, Sampaguita and Champaca. Eesins and 
gums are each a dozen or more in number, and 
their harvesting forms an important industry in 
many sections of the archipelago. These substances 
qf plant life are marketed in all of the principal 
marts of the world. 
FLORA AND FAUNA, 
Fatting it in a general way the flora of the 
Philippines is tropical, but there are very great 
differences in vegetation on the Pacific and China 
sea-coasts. Mindanao and the Suln Archipelago are 
eqaatorijl, and they possess a growth of the 
durian and mangosteen, plants of indigenous growth, 
which are very common in all islands near the 
equator. But such forms of vegetation lessen until 
they reach the parallel of Manila, where the two 
floras are supposed to have their dividing line. 
North of the capital is found the pine and vegeta- 
tion of subtropical belt, and south the foliage and 
blossoming families of BIyrtacea, Leauracear, Orohi- 
dacaea and others. 
Wherever rains are most copious foliage with 
many variegated colors is most dense, and this 
applies to Mindanao and all contiguous equatorial 
)sl»ade. North the mountains are more compact, 
and, in consequence, this territory has a more 
limited agricultural zone. The forests of the 
mountain sides and valleys contain an abundance 
of ferns, orchid?, and palms. While the fir is not 
found, other gums, such as the almaciga and 
various species of the Podacarpus and agojos, grow 
luxuriantly, and are much sought after for decorat- 
ing purposes. 
As the Gazetteer puts it, " where the hand of 
man has not interfered with nature, two kinds 
o£ vegetation are seen ; either the land is 
covered with exteneive forests or with grass of 
various species." Latitudes and altitudes determine 
largely the disbursement of flora in Oceanica of the 
Soutn Pacific, including that of the China Sea. 
That in the Philippines is analogous to that of 
Sumatra, although the latter has much the larger 
number of species. There is no comparison between 
the flora of the Philippines and that of Java, the 
latter having a distinct variegated foliage, and, prac- 
tically, a distinct forestry. It may be said, too, thai 
identical species are quite rare on the Pacific coast 
and on that of the China Sea, 
While blossoms from native plants and shrubs 
and trees have delicately beautiful petals and color- 
ings of every shade imaginable, very few of them 
are fragrant, such as the connoisseurs of the beauti- 
ful delight in ^most. Ilang-Ilang is perhaps the 
most fragrant of all, and next in rank are Sampa- 
guita and Champaca. The flowers of the first- 
named spread their fragrance from one to two 
miles where they are cultivated in orchards, and 
their perfume is such that one delights to linger 
among them. 
THE WATER BUFFALO OR CARABAO. 
Pastoral pursuits are extensive. The water buffalo 
or carabao is the most useful animal in the islands, 
and they are numerously propagated wherever 
marsh laud and rivers obtain, and this means they 
are raised in almost every island of the archipe- 
lago where any pretension is given to agriculture. 
This animal is the beast of all heavy burden, is 
stronger than the ox but much less docile. Ori- 
ginally he came from India, but is now common 
in all of the torrid latitudes of the Eastern 
Hemisphere, Here he is used for draft, carriage 
and tillage, and under existing conditions is in- 
dispensable, " Ghee, " or a kind of butter, is 
made from the milk of the female, but it is not 
very palatable, nor is the meat of the matured 
animal, but that from the calf is sweet, tender 
and luscious. The hide of the carabao is practically 
hairless and very tough, making a valuable com- 
mercial leather. 
Horses, cattle, hogs, fowls and other animals, 
including sheep and goats, have become domesticated, 
and are to be found on every farm, ranch or 
hacienda. Deer, wild hogs, wild turkeys and wild 
chickens abound in the mountains and forests 
near the tribes and tribal families of the islands. 
The rivers, bays, gulfs and harbors furnish fish, 
reptiles, aligators and crocodiles, some of which 
approach the size of mammals. 
NATIVE FRUITS. 
Wild and cultivated fruits of the archipelago are 
large in variety and many of them are superior 
in quality. Anona, an exotic from Mexico, has a 
soft, white meat with small black seeds resembhng the 
bullock's heart or the custard apple; balambing 
has the flavor of quince and is used by the 
natives with meat or fish ; bananas are the com- 
monest and cheapest fruit in the islands, and there 
are eighteen or twenty varieties ; camias, when green 
has a sour taste and when ripe is sweet and 
flagrant ; cantaloupes of excellent varieties grow in 
the provinces near Manila ; citron, fruit very large, 
is found in abundance ; duat, a wild edible fruit, 
about the size of an olive, dark purple to black 
iu color, is found in all of the principal islands ; 
