The Caracolillo coffee-berry contains only one seed, with a furrow in the direction of the long axis, which gives it the appearance of being a geminous seed with an inclination to open out on one side.

In Arabia Felix, where coffee was first planted in the 15th century, and its cultivation is still extensive, the collection of the fruit is effected by spreading cloths under the trees, from which, on being violently shaken, the ripe berries fall, and are then placed upon mats to dry, after which the beans are pressed under a heavy roller.

In the Philippines, women and children—sometimes men—go into the plantations with baskets and pick the berries. The fruit is then heaped, and, in a few days, washed, so that a great portion of the pulp is got rid of. Then the berries are dried and pounded in a mortar to separate the inner membrane and pellicle; these are winnowed from the clean bean, which constitutes the coffee of commerce and is sent in bags to Manila for sale.

The Philippine plantations give only one crop yearly, whilst in the West Indies beans of unequal ripeness are to be found during eight months of the twelve, and in Brazil there are three annual gatherings.



The seed of the Tobacco-plant (Nicotiana tabacum) was among the many novelties introduced into the Philippines from Mexico by Spanish missionaries, soon after the possession of the Colony by the Spaniards was an accomplished fact. From this Colony it is said to have been taken in the 16th or 17th century into the south of China, where its use was so much abused that the sale of this so-called noxious article was, for a long time, prohibited under penalty of death.

During the first two centuries of Spanish dominion but little direct attention was paid to the tobacco question by the Government, who only nominally held, but did not assert, the exclusive right of traffic in this article. At length, in the year 1781, during the Gov.-Generalship of Jose Basco y Vargas (a naval officer), the cultivation and sale of tobacco was formally decreed a State monopoly, which lasted up to the end of the year 1882. In the meantime, it became an important item of public revenue. In 1882 the profits of the Tobacco Monopoly amounted to half the Colony's Budget expenditure.

A few years before that date a foreign company offered to guarantee the Budget (then about P15,000,000), in exchange for the Tobacco Monopoly, but the proposal was not entertained, although in the same year the Treasury deficit amounted to P2,000,000.

By Royal Decree of July 1, 1844, a contract was entered into with the firm of O'Shea & Co., renting to them the Monopoly, but it was suddenly rescinded. The annual profits from tobacco to the Government at that date were about P2,500,000.

GOVERNMENT PROFIT

1840 P2,123,505 1845 2,570,679 1850 3,036,611 1855 3,721,168 1859 4,932,463 1860 over 5,000,000 1869 5,230,581

A bale of tobacco contains 4,000 leaves in 40 bundles (manos), of 100 leaves each.

The classification of the deliveries depended on the districts where the crop was raised and the length of the leaf.

The tobacco trade being also a Government concern in Spain, this Colony was required to supply the Peninsula State Factories with 90,000 quintals (of 100 Span, lbs.) of tobacco-leaf per annum.

Government Monopoly was in force in Luzon Island only. The tobacco districts of that island were Cagayan Valley (which comprises La Isabela), La Union, El Abra, Ilocos Sur y Norte and Nueva Ecija. In no other part of Luzon was tobacco-planting allowed, except for a short period on the Caraballo range, inhabited by undomesticated mountain tribes, upon whom prohibition would have been difficult to enforce. In 1842 the Igorrotes were allowed to plant, and, in the year 1853, the Government collection from this source amounted to 25,000 bales of excellent quality. The total population of these districts was, in 1882 (the last year of Monopoly), about 785,000.

The Visayas Islands were never under the Monopoly system. The natives there were free to raise tobacco or other crops on their land. It was not until 1840 that tobacco-planting attracted general attention in Visayas. Government factories or collecting-centres were established there for classifying and storing such tobacco as the Visayos cared to bring in for sale to the State, but they were at liberty to sell their produce privately or in the public markets. They also disposed of large quantities by contraband to the Luzon Island Provinces. [138]

Antique Province never yielded more tobacco than could be consumed locally. In 1841 the Antique tobacco crop was valued at P80,000. But, in the hope of obtaining higher prices, the enthusiastic Provincial Governor, Manuel Iturriaga, encouraged the growers, in 1843, to send a trial parcel to the Government collectors; it was, however, unclassed and rejected.

Mindoro, Lucban, and Marinduque Islands produced tobacco about sixty years ago, and in 1846 the Government established a collecting-centre in Mindoro; but the abuses and cruelty of the officials towards the natives, to force them to bring in their crops, almost extinguished this class of husbandry.

During the period of Monopoly in the Luzon districts, the production was very carefully regulated by the Home Government, by enactments revised from time to time, called "General Instructions for the Direction, Administration and Control of the Government Monopolies." [139] Compulsory labour was authorized, and those natives in the northern provinces of Luzon Island who wished to till the land (the property of the State)—for title-deeds were almost unknown and never applied for by the natives—were compelled to give preference to tobacco. In fact, no other crops were allowed to be raised. Moreover, they were not permitted peacefully to indulge their indolent nature—to scrape up the earth and plant when and where they liked for a mere subsistence. Each family was coerced into contracting with the Government to raise 4,000 plants per annum, subject to a fine in the event of failure. The planter had to deliver into the State stores all the tobacco of his crop—not a single leaf could he reserve for his private consumption.

Lands left uncultivated could be appropriated by the Government, who put their own nominees to work them, and he who had come to consider himself owner, by mere undisturbed possession, lost the usufruct and all other rights for three years. His right to the land, in fact, was not freehold, but tenure by villein socage.

Emigrants were sent north from the west coast Provinces of North and South Ilocos. The first time I went up to Cagayan about 200 emigrant families were taken on board our vessel at North Ilocos, en route for the tobacco districts, and appeared to be as happy as other natives in general. They were well supplied with food and clothing, and comfortably lodged on their arrival at the Port of Aparri.

In the Government Regulations referred to, the old law of Charles III., which enacted that a native could not be responsible at law for a debt exceeding P5, was revived, and those emigrants who had debts were only required to liquidate them out of their earnings in the tobacco district up to that legal maximum value.

As soon as the native growers were settled on their lands their condition was by no means an enviable one. A Nueva Ecija landowner and tobacco-grower, in a letter to El Liberal (Madrid) in 1880, depicts the situation in the following terms:—The planter, he says, was only allowed to smoke tobacco of his own crop inside the aerating-sheds which were usually erected on the fields under tilth. If he happened to be caught by a carabineer only a few steps outside the shed with a cigar in his mouth he was fined 2 pesos—if a cigarette, 50 cents—and adding to these sums the costs of the conviction, a cigar of his own crop came to cost him P7.37 1/2, and a cigarette P1.87 1/2. The fines in Nueva Ecija amounted to an annual average of P7,000 on a population of 170,000. From sunrise to sunset the native grower was subject to domiciliary search for concealed tobacco—his trunks, furniture, and every nook and corner of his dwelling were ransacked. He and all his family—wife and daughters—were personally examined: and often an irate husband, father, or brother, goaded to indignation by the indecent humiliation of his kinswoman, would lay hands on his bowie-knife and bring matters to a bloody crisis with his wanton persecutors... The leaves were carefully selected, and only such as came under classification were paid for. The rejected bundles were not returned to the grower, but burnt—a despairing sacrifice to the toiler! The Cabezas de Barangay (vide p. 223) had, under penalty of arrest and hard labour, to see that the families fulfilled their onerous contract. Corporal punishment, imprisonment, and amercement resulted; of frequent occurrence were those fearful scenes which culminated in riots such as those of Ilocos in 1807 and 1814, when many Spaniards fell victims to the natives' resentment of their oppression.

Palpable injustice, too, was imposed by the Government with respect to the payments. The Treasury paid loyally for many years, but as generation succeeded generation, and the native growers' families came to feel themselves attached to the soil they cultivated, the Treasury, reposing on the security of this constancy, no longer kept to the compact. The officials failed to pay with punctuality to the growers the contracted value of the deliveries to the State stores. They required exactitude from the native—the Government set the example of remissness. The consequence was appalling. Instead of money Treasury notes were given them, and speculators of the lowest type used to scour the tobacco-growing districts to buy up this paper at an enormous discount. The misery of the natives was so distressing, the distrust of the Government so radicate, and the want of means of existence so urgent, that they were wont to yield their claims for an insignificant relative specie value. The speculators held the bonds for realization some day; the total amount due by the Government at one time exceeded P1,500,000. Once the Treasury was so hard-pressed for funds that the tobacco ready in Manila for shipment to Spain had to be sold on the spot and the 90,000 quintals could not be sent—hence purchases of Philippine tobacco had to be made by tender in London for the Spanish Government cigar factories.

At length, during the government of General Domingo Moriones (1877-80), it was resolved to listen to the overwhelming complaints from the North, and pay up to date in coin. But, to do this, Spain, always in a state of chronic insolvency, had to resort to an abominable measure of disloyalty. The funds of the Deposit Bank (Caja de Depositos) were arbitrarily appropriated, and the deposit-notes, bearing 8 per cent. interest per annum, held by private persons, most of whom were Government clerks, etc., were dishonoured at due date. This gave rise to great clamour on the part of those individuals whose term of service had ceased (cesantes), and who, on their return to Spain, naturally wished to take their accumulated savings with them. The Gov.-General had no other recourse open to him but to reinstate them in their old positions, on his own responsibility, pending the financial crisis and the receipt of instructions from the Government at Madrid.

For a long time the question of abolishing the Monopoly had been debated, and by Royal Order of May 20, 1879, a commission was appointed to inquire into the convenience of farming out the tobacco traffic. The natives were firmly opposed to it; they dreaded the prospect of the provinces being overrun by a band of licensed persecutors, and of the two evils they preferred State to private Monopoly. Warm discussions arose for and against it through the medium of the Manila newspapers. The "Consejo de Filipinas," in Madrid, had given a favourable report dated May 12, 1879, and published in the Gaceta de Madrid of July 13, 1879. The clergy defeated the proposal by the Corporations of Friars jointly presenting a Memorial against it—and it was thenceforth abandoned. The Tobacco Monopoly was the largest source of public revenue, hence the doubt as to the policy of free trade and the delay in granting it. There existed a possibility of the Treasury sustaining an immense and irretrievable loss, for a return to Monopoly, after free trade had been allowed, could not for a moment be thought of. It was then a safe income to the Government, and it was feared by many that the industry, by free labour, would considerably fall off.

As already stated, the Government Monopoly ceased on December 31, 1882, when the tobacco cultivation and trade were handed over to private enterprise. At that date there were five Government Cigar and Cigarette Factories, viz.:—Malabon, Arroceros, Meisig, El Fortin, and Cavite, giving employment to about 20,000 operatives.

Up to within a year of the abolition of Monopoly, a very good smokeable cigar could be purchased in the estancos [140] from one half-penny and upwards, but as soon as the free trade project was definitely decided upon, the Government factories, in order to work off their old stocks of inferior leaf, filled the estancos with cigars of the worst quality.

The Colonial Treasurer-General at the time of this reform entertained very sanguine hopes respecting the rush which would be made for the Government brands, and the general public were led to believe that a scarcity of manufactured tobacco would, for some months, at least, follow the establishment of free trade in this article. With this idea in view, Government stocks sold at auction aroused competition and fetched unusually high prices at the close of 1882 and the first month of the following year, in some cases as much as 23/- per cwt. being realized over the upset prices. However, the Treasurer-General was carried too far in his expectations. He was unfortunately induced to hold a large amount of Government manufactured tobacco in anticipation of high offers, the result being an immense loss to the Treasury, as only a part was placed, with difficulty, at low prices, and the remainder shipped to Spain. In January, 1883, the stock of tobacco in Government hands amounted to about 100 tons of 1881 crop, besides the whole crop of 1882. Little by little the upset prices had to be lowered to draw buyers. The tobacco shipped during the first six months of the year 1883 was limited to that sold by auction out of the Government stocks, for the Government found themselves in a dilemma with their stores of this article, and the free export only commenced half a year after free production was granted. On December 29, 1883, a Government sale by auction was announced at 50 per cent. reduction on their already low prices, but the demand was still very meagre. Finally, in the course of 1884, the Government got rid of the bulk of their stock, the balance being shipped to the mother country. The colonial authorities continued to pay the ancient tobacco-tribute to Spain, and the first contract, with this object, was made during that year with a private company for the supply of about 2,750 tons.

During the first year of Free Trade, cigar and cigarette factories were rapidly started in Manila and the provinces, but up to 1897 only some eight or ten factories had improved the quality of the manufactured article, whilst prices rose so considerably that the general public probably lost by the reform. Cigars, like those sold in the estancos in 1881, could never again be got so good for the same price, but at higher prices much better brands were offered.

A small tax on the cigar and tobacco-leaf trade, officially announced in August, 1883, had the beneficial effect of causing the closure of some of the very small manufactories, and reduced the probability of a large over-supply of an almost worthless article.

Export-houses continued to make large shipments of leaf-tobacco and cigars until the foreign markets were glutted with Philippine tobacco in 1883, and in the following years the export somewhat decreased. For figures of Tobacco Leaf and Cigar Shipments, vide Chap, xxxi., "Trade Statistics."

As to the relative quality of Philippine tobacco, there are very divided opinions. Decidedly the best Manila cigars cannot compare with those made from the famous leaf of the Vuelta de Abajo (Cuba), and in the European markets they have very justly failed to meet with the same favourable reception as the Cuban cigars generally.

During my first journey up the Cagayan River, I was told that some years ago the Government made earnest efforts to improve the quality of the plant by the introduction of seed from Cuba, but unfortunately it became mixed up with that usually planted in the Philippine provinces, and the object in view failed completely. On my renewed visit to the tobacco districts, immediately after the abolition of monopoly, the importance of properly manipulating the green leaf did not appear to be thoroughly appreciated. The exact degree of fermentation was not ascertained with the skill and perseverance necessary to turn out a well-prepared article. Some piles which I tested were over-heated (taking the Java system as my standard), whilst larger quantities had been aerated so long in the shed, after cutting, that they had lost their finest aroma.

There are many risks in tobacco-leaf trading. The leaf, during its growth, is exposed to perforation by a worm which, if not brushed off every morning, may spread over the whole field. Through the indolence of the native cultivator this misfortune happens so frequently that rarely does the Cagayan Valley tobacco contain (in the total crop of the season) more than 10 per cent. of perfect, undamaged leaves. In the aerating-sheds another kind of worm appears in the leaf; and, again, after the leaves are baled or the cigars boxed, an insect drills little holes through them—locally, it is said to be "picado."

Often in the dry season (the winter months) the tobacco-leaf, for want of a little moisture, matures narrow, thick and gummy, and contains an excess of nicotine, in which case it can only be used after several years' storage. Too much rain entirely spoils the leaf. Another obstacle to Philippine cigar manufacture is the increasing universal demand for cigars with light-coloured wrappers, for which hardly two per cent. of the Philippine leaf is suitable in world competition, whilst the operative cannot handle with economy the delicate light-coloured Sumatra wrapper. The difficulties of transport are so great that it costs more to bring the finest tobacco-leaf from the field to the Manila factory than it would to send it from Manila to Europe in large parcels. The labour question is also an important consideration, for it takes several years of daily practice for a Filipino to turn out a first-class marketable cigar; the most skilful operatives can earn up to P50 a month.

The best quality of Philippine tobacco is produced in the northern provinces of Luzon Island, the choicest selections coming from Cagayan and La Isabela. The Provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Ilocos Sur y Norte, La Union, Nueva Ecija, and even Pampanga, yield tobacco.

In the Visayas, tobacco is cultivated in Panay Island and on the east coast of Negros Island (district of Escalante) and Cebu Island—also to a limited extent in Mindanao. The Visaya leaf generally is inferior in quality, particularly that of Yloilo Province, some of which, in fact, is such rubbish that it is difficult to understand how a profit can be expected from its cultivation. The Escalante (Negros, E. coast) and the Barili (Cebu W. coast) tobacco seemed to me to be the fullest flavoured and most agreeable leaf in all the Visayas.

A tobacco plantation is about as pretty as a cabbage-field.

In 1883 a company, styled The General Philippine Tobacco Company ("Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas"), formed in Spain and financially supported by French capitalists, was established in this Colony with a capital of L3,000,000. It gave great impulse to the trade by soon starting with five factories and purchasing four estates ("San Antonio," "Santa Isabel," "San Luis," and "La Concepcion"), with buying-agents in every tobacco district. Up to 1898 the baled tobacco-leaf trade was chiefly in the hands of this company. Little by little the company launched out into other branches of produce-purchasing, and lost considerable sums of money in the provinces in its unsuccessful attempt to compete with the shrewd foreign merchants, but it is still a good going concern.

PRICES AND WEIGHTS OF SOME OF THE BEST CIGARS MANUFACTURED IN MANILA PACKED IN BOXES READY FOR USE OR SHIPMENT.

Per Thousand. In Boxes of Per Thousand. In Boxes of lbs. Pesos lbs. Pesos

30 500 10 17 45 50 30 200 25 17 40 50 17 150 25 12 30 50 25 125 25 16 24 50 23 70 25 12 20 100 17 60 50 16 18 100 18 50 50 4 1/2 13 100

Cigars and cigarettes are now offered for sale in every town, village, and hamlet of the Islands, and their manufacture for the immense home consumption (which, of cigars, is about one-third of the whole output), and to supply the demand for export, constitutes an important branch of trade, giving employment to thousands of operatives.



CHAPTER XVIII

Sundry Forest and Farm Produce Maize—Cacao—Coprah, Etc.

Maize (Zea mays), or "Indian Corn," forms the staple article of food in lieu of rice in a limited number of districts, particularly in the South, although as a rule this latter cereal is preferred.

Many agriculturists alternate their crops with that of maize, which, it is said, does not impoverish the land to any appreciable extent. There is no great demand for this grain, and it is generally cultivated rather as an article for consumption in the grower's household than for trade. Planted in good land it gives about 200-fold, and two crops in the year = 400-fold per annum; but the setting out of one caban of maize grain occupies five times the surface required for the planting of the same measure of rice grain. An ordinary caban of land is 8,000 square Spanish yards (vide Land Measure, p. 271), and this superficie derives its denomination from the fact that it is the average area occupied by the planting out of one caban measure of rice grain. The maize caban of land is quite a special measure, and is equal to 5 rice cabans. Estimating, therefore, the average yield of rice-paddy to be 50 cabanes measure per ordinary caban of land, the same superficie, were it suitable for maize-raising, would give one-fifth of 400-fold per annum = 80 cabanes measure of maize per rice caban of land.

The current price of maize, taking the average in several provinces, is rarely above that of paddy for the same measure, whilst it is often lower, according to the demand, which is influenced by the custom of the natives in the vicinity where it is offered for sale.

It is eaten after being pulverized between stone or hardwood slabs with the surfaces set horizontally, the upper one being caused to revolve on the lower one, which is stationary. In many village market-places one sees heads of maize roasted and exposed for sale. This is of a special quality, grown in alluvial soil—the intervals of rivers which overflow at certain seasons of the year. Three crops per annum are obtainable on land of this kind, so that the supply is constant all the year round. Before the American occupation, the price of the raw maize-heads to the market-sellers was about 60 cuartos per 100, which they retailed out roasted at one cuarto each (3 1/2 cuartos equal about one penny); the profit was therefore proportionately large when local festivities created a demand.



The Cacao-tree—(Theobroma cacao, or "Food of the gods," as Linnaeus called it)—a native of Central America, flourishes in these Islands in the hot and damp districts.

It is said to have been imported into the Philippines towards the end of the 17th century from Mexico, where it has been in very ancient use. Gaspar de San Agustin records the following [141]:—"In the year 1670 a navigator, Pedro Brabo de Lagunas, brought from Acapulco a pot containing a cacao-plant which he gave to his brother, Bartolome Brabo, a priest in Camarines, from whom it was stolen by a Lipa native, Juan del Aguila, who hid it and took care of it, and from it was propagated all the original Philippine stock."

Outside the tropics the tree will grow in some places, but gives no fruit. The Philippine quality is very good, and compares favourably with that of other countries, the best being produced between latitudes 11 deg. and 12 deg. N.

The cultivation of cacao is an extremely risky and delicate business, as, often when the planter's hopes are about to be realized, a slight storm will throw down the almost-ripened fruit in a day. A disease sometimes attacks the roots and spreads through a plantation. It would be imprudent, therefore, to devote one's time exclusively to the cultivation of this product at the risk of almost instantaneous ruin. Usually, the Philippine agriculturist rightly regards cacao only as a useful adjunct to his other crops. In the aspect of a cacao plantation there is nothing specially attractive. The tree itself is not pretty. The natives who grow the fruit usually make their own chocolate at home by roasting the beans over a slow fire, and after separating them from their husks (like almond-skins), they pound them with wet sugar, etc., into a paste, using a kind of rolling-pin on a concave block of wood. The roasted beans should be made into chocolate at once, as by exposure to the air they lose flavour. Small quantities of cacao are sent to Spain, but the consumption in the Colony, when made into chocolate [142] by adding sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, etc., to counteract the natural bitterness of the bean, is considerable. In making the paste, a large quantity of sugar is added, varying from one-third of its weight to equal parts, whilst one pod of vanilla is sufficient for 1 1/2 lbs. of cacao. Chocolate is often adulterated with roasted rice and Pili nuts. The roasted Pili nut alone has a very agreeable almond taste. As a beverage, chocolate is in great favour with the Spaniards and half-castes and the better class of natives. In every household of any pretensions the afternoon caller is invited to "merendar con chocolate," which corresponds to the English "5 o'clock tea."

The cacao-beans or kernels lie in a fruit something like a gherkin, about 5 inches long and 3 inches in diameter, and of a dark reddish colour when ripe. The tree bears its fruit on the main branches, or on the trunk itself, but never on twigs or thin branches. The fruit contains from 15 to 25 beans, in regular rows, with pulpy divisions between them like a water-melon. The kernels are about the size, shape, and colour of almonds, obtuse at one end, and contain a fatty or oily matter to the extent of one-half their weight. In order to make "soluble cocoa" as sold in Europe this fatty substance is extracted.

The beans are planted out at short distances in orchards, or in the garden surrounding the owner's dwelling. The tree, in this Colony, does not attain a great height—usually up to 10 feet—whereas in its natural soil it grows up to 30 feet at least. Like coffee, it bears fruit in the fourth year, and reaches maturity in the sixth year. The fair annual yield of a tree, if not damaged by storms or insects, would be about three pints measure of beans, which always find a ready sale. The tree is most delicate; a slight laceration of the root, or stagnant water near it, may kill it; it needs a moisture-laden sultry air, which, however, must not exceed 75 deg. Fahr.

If all went well with the crop, large profits might accrue to the cacao-planter, but it rarely happens (perhaps never) during the six months of fruit-ripening that losses are not sustained by hurricanes, disease in the tree, the depredations of parrots, monkeys, rats, and other vermin, etc. Practically speaking, cacao-planting should only be undertaken in this Colony by agriculturists who have spare capital and can afford to lose a crop one year to make up for it in the next. The venture pays handsomely in fortunate seasons, but it is not the line of planting to be taken up by hand-to-mouth colonists who must seek immediate returns, nor as a sole occupation.



Castor Oil is obtained in a few places from the seeds of the Palma Christi or Ricinus communis, but the plant is not cultivated, and the oil has not yet become an article of current trade.

Gogo (Entada pursaetha), sometimes called Bayogo in Tagalog, is a useful forest product in general demand, on sale at every market-place and native general shop. It is a fibrous bark, taken in strips of 3 or 4 feet long. It looks exactly like cocoa-nut coir, except that its colour is a little lighter and brighter. It is used for cleansing the hair, for which purpose a handful is put to soak in a basin of water overnight, and the next morning it will saponify when rubbed between the hands. The soap which issues therefrom is then rubbed in the hair at the time of bathing. It is in common use among the natives of both sexes and many Europeans. An infusion of Gogo is a purgative. If placed dry in the tinaja jars (Tagalog, Tapayan), containing cacao-beans, the insects will not attack the beans.

Camote (Convolvulus batatas) is the sweet potato or Yam, the foliage of which quickly spreads out like a carpet over the soil and forms tubers, like the common potato. It is a favourite article of food among the natives, and in nearly every island it is also found wild. In kitchen-gardens it is planted like the potato, the tuber being cut in pieces. Sometimes it is dried (Tagalog, Pacumbong camote). It is also preserved whole in molasses (Tagalog, Palubog na camote).

Gabi (Caladium) is another kind of esculent root, palatable to the natives, similar to the turnip, and throws up stalks from 1 to 3 feet high, at the end of which is an almost round leaf, dark green, from 3 to 5 inches diameter at maturity.

Potatoes are grown in Cebu Island, but they are rarely any larger than walnuts. With very special care a larger size has been raised in Negros Island; also potatoes of excellent flavour and of a pinkish colour are cultivated in the district of Benguet; in Manila there is a certain demand for this last kind.

Mani (Arachis hypogaea), commonly called the "Pea-nut," is a creeping plant, which grows wild in many places. It is much cultivated, however, partly for the sake of the nut or fruit, but principally for the leaves and stalks, which, when dried, even months old, serve as an excellent and nutritious fodder for ponies. It contains a large quantity of oil, and in some districts it is preferred to the fresh-cut zacate grass, with which the ponies and cattle are fed in Manila.

The Philippine pea-nut is about as large as that seen in England. In 1904 the American Bureau of Agriculture brought to the Islands for seed a quantity of New Orleans pea-nuts two to three times larger.

Areca Palm (Areca calechu) (Tagalog, Bonga), the nut of which is used to make up the chewing betel when split into slices about one-eighth of an inch thick. This is one of the most beautiful palms. The nuts cluster on stalks under the tuft of leaves at the top of the tall slender stem. It is said that one tree will produce, according to age, situation, and culture, from 200 to 800 nuts yearly. The nut itself is enveloped in a fibrous shell, like the cocoa-nut. In Europe a favourite dentifrice is prepared from the areca-nut.

Buyo (Piper betle) (Tagalog, Igmo), is cultivated with much care in every province, as its leaf, when coated with lime made from oyster-shells and folded up, is used to coil round the areca-nut, the whole forming the buyo (betel), which the natives of these Islands, as in British India, are in the habit of chewing. To the chew a quid of tobacco is sometimes added. A native can go a great number of hours without food if he has his betel; it is said to be stomachical. After many years of habit in chewing this nut and leaf it becomes almost a necessity, as is the case with opium, and it is believed that its use cannot, with safety, be suddenly abandoned. To the newly-arrived European, it is very displeasing to have to converse with a native betel-eater, whose teeth and lips appear to be smeared with blood. The buyo plant is set out on raised beds and trained (like hops) straight up on sticks, on which it grows to a height of about 6 feet. The leaf is of a bright green colour, and only slightly pointed. In all market-places, including those of Manila, there is a great sale of this leaf, which is brought fresh every day.

Cocoanut (Cocos nucifera) plantations pay very well, and there is a certain demand for the fruit for export to China, besides the constant local sales in the tianguis. [143] Niog is the Tagalog name for the cocoanut palm. Some tap the tree by making an incision in the flowering (or fruit-bearing) stalk, under which a bamboo vessel, called a bombon, is hung to receive the sap. This liquid, known as tuba, is a favourite beverage among the natives. As many as four stalks of the same trunk can be so drained simultaneously without injury to the tree. In the bottom of the bombon is placed about as much as a desert spoonful of pulverized Tongo bark (Rhizophora longissima) to give a stronger taste and bright colour to the tuba. The incision—renewed each time the bombon is replaced—is made with a very sharp knife, to which a keen edge is given by rubbing it on wood (Erythrina) covered with a paste of ashes and oil. The sap-drawing of a stalk continues incessantly for about two months, when the stalk ceases to yield and dries up. The bombons containing the liquid are removed, empty ones being put in their place every twelve hours, about sunrise and sunset, and the seller hastens round to his clients with the morning and evening draught, concluding his trade at the market-place or other known centres of sale. If the tuba is allowed to ferment, it is not so palatable, and becomes an intoxicating drink. From the fermented juice the distilleries manufacture a spirituous liquor, known locally as cocoa-wine. The trees set apart for tuba extraction do not produce nuts, as the fruit-forming elements are taken away.

The man who gets down the tuba has to climb the first tree, on the trunk of which notches are cut to place his toes in. From under the tuft of leaves two bamboos are fastened, leading to the next nearest tree, and so on around the group which is thus connected. The bottom bamboo serves as a bridge, and the top one as a handrail. Occasionally a man falls from the top of a trunk 70 or 80 feet high, and breaks his neck. The occupation of tuba drawing is one of the most dangerous.

When the tree is allowed to produce fruit, instead of yielding tuba, the nuts are collected about every four months. They are brought down either by a sickle-shaped knife lashed on to the end of a long pole, or by climbing the tree with the knife in hand. When they are collected for oil-extraction, they are carted on a kind of sleigh, [144] unless there be a river or creek providing a water-way, in which latter case they are tied together, stalk to stalk, and floated in a compact mass, like a raft, upon which the man in charge stands.

The water or milk found inside a cocoanut is very refreshing to the traveller, and has this advantage over fresh water, that it serves to quench the thirst of a person who is perspiring, or whose blood is highly heated, without doing him any harm.

Well-to-do owners of cocoanut-palm plantations usually farm out to the poorer people the right to extract the tuba, allotting to each family a certain number of trees. Others allow the trees to bear fruit, and although the returns are, theoretically, not so good, it pays the owner about the same, as he is less exposed to robbery, being able more closely to watch his own interests. The trees bear fruit in the fifth year, but, meanwhile, care must be taken to defend them from the browsing of cattle. If they survive that period they will live for a century. At seven years' growth the cocoanut palm-tree seldom fails to yield an unvarying average crop of a score of large nuts, giving a nett profit of about one peso per annum.

The cocoanut is largely used for culinary purposes in the Islands. It is an ingredient in the native "curry" (of no resemblance to Indian curry), and is preserved in several ways, the most common being the Bocayo, a sort of cocoanut toffee, and the Matamis na macapuno, which is the soft, immature nut preserved in molasses.

In the Provinces of Tayabas, La Laguna, E. Batangas and district of La Infanta, the cocoanut-palm is extensively cultivated, solely for the purpose of extracting the oil from the nut. The cocoanut-oil factories are very rough, primitive establishments, usually consisting of eight or ten posts supporting a nipa palm-leaf roof, and closed in at all sides with split bamboos. The nuts are heaped for a while to dry and concentrate the oil in the fruit. Then they are chopped, more or less, in half. A man sits on a board with his feet on a treadle, from which a rope is passed over, and works to and fro a cylindrical block, in the end of which is fixed an iron scraper. He picks up the half-nuts one at a time, and on applying them to the scraper in motion, the white fruit, or pith, falls out into a vessel underneath. These scrapings are then pressed between huge blocks of wood to express the oil, and the mass is afterwards put into cast-iron cauldrons, of Chinese make, with water, which is allowed to simmer and draw out the remaining fatty particles, which are skimmed off the surface. When cold, it is sent off to market in small, straight-sided kegs, on ponies which carry two kegs—one slung on each side. The average estimated yield of the cocoanuts, by the native process, is as follows, viz.:—250 large nuts give one cwt. of dried coprah, yielding, say, 10 gallons of oil.

Small quantities of Cocoanut Oil (Tagalog, Languis ng niog) are shipped from the Philippines, but in the Colony itself it is an important article of consumption. Every dwelling, rich or poor, consumes a certain amount of this oil nightly for lighting. For this purpose it is poured into a glass half full of water, on which it floats, and a wick, made of pith, called tinsin, introduced by the Chinese, is suspended in the centre of the oil by a strip of tin. As the oil is consumed, the wick is lowered by slightly bending the tin downwards. There are few dwelling-houses, or huts, without a light of some kind burning during the whole night in expectation of a possible earthquake, and the vast majority use cocoanut oil because of the economy.

It is also in use for cooking in some out-of-the-way places, and is not unpalatable when quite fresh. It is largely employed as a lubricant for machinery, for which purpose, however, it is very inferior. Occasionally it finds a medicinal application, and the natives commonly use it as hair-oil. In Europe, cocoa-nut oil is a white solid, and is used in the manufacture of soap and candles; in the tropics it is seldom seen otherwise than in a liquid state, as it fuses a little above 70 deg. Fahr.

It is only in the last few years that Coprah has acquired importance as an article of export. There are large cocoanut plantations on all the principal islands, whence supplies are furnished to meet the foreign demand, which is likely to increase considerably.

For figures of Coprah Shipments, vide Chap. xxxi., "Trade Statistics."

Uses are also found for the hard Shell of the nut (Tagalog, Baoo). In native dwellings these shells serve the poor for cups (tabo ) and a variety of other useful domestic utensils, whilst by all classes they are converted into ladles with wooden handles. Also, when carbonized, the shell gives a black, used for dyeing straw hats.

Very little use is made of the Coir (Tagalog, Bunot), or outer fibrous skin, which in other countries serves for the manufacture of cocoanut matting, coarse brushes, hawsers, etc. It is said that coir rots in fresh water, whereas salt water strengthens it. It would therefore be unsuitable for running rigging, but for ships' cables it cannot be surpassed in its qualities of lightness and elasticity. As it floats on water, it ought to be of great value on ships, whilst of late years its employment in the manufacture of light ocean telegraph cables has been seriously considered, showing, as it does, an advantage over other materials by taking a convex curve to the water surface—an important condition in cable-laying. [145] The Spaniards call this product Banote. In this Colony it often serves for cleaning floors and ships' decks, when the nut is cut into two equal parts across the grain of the coir covering, and with it a very high polish can be put on to hardwoods.

The stem of the Cocoanut Palm is attacked by a very large beetle with a single horn at the top of its head. It bores through the bark and slightly injures the tree, but I never heard that any had died in consequence. In some countries this insect is described as the rhinoceros beetle, and is said to belong to the Dynastidae species.

In the Philippines, the poorest soil seems to give nourishment to the cocoanut-palm; indeed, it thrives best on, or near, the sea-shore, as close to the sea as where the beach is fringed by the surf at high tide. The common cocoanut-palm attains a height of about sixty feet, but there is also a dwarf palm with the stem sometimes no taller than four feet at full growth, which also bears fruit, although less plentifully. A grove of these is a pretty sight.

Sir Emerson Tennent, referring to these trees in Ceylon, is reported to have stated [146] that the cocoanut-palm "acts as a conductor in protecting houses from lightning. As many as 500 of these trees were struck in a single pattoo near Pattalam during a succession of thunderstorms in April 1859."—Colombo Observer.

Nipa Palm (Nipa fruticans) is found in mangrove swamps and flooded marshy lands. It has the appearance of a gigantic fern, and thrives best in those lands which are covered by the sea at high tide. In the same manner as the cocoanut-palm, the sap is extracted by incision made in the fruit-bearing stalk, and is used for distilling a liquid known as nipa wine, which, however, should properly be termed a spirit. The leaves, which are very long, and about three to five inches wide, are of immense value in the country for thatched roofs. Nipa is not to be found everywhere; one may go many miles without seeing it, in districts devoid of marshes and swampy lowlands. In El Abra district (Luzon Is.) nipa is said to be unknown. In such places, another material supplies its want for thatching, viz.:—

Cogon (Saccharum koenigii), a sort of tall jungle grass with a very sharp edge, plentifully abundant precisely where nipa cannot be expected to grow. I have ridden through cogon five feet high, but a fair average would be about three to four feet. It has simply to be cut and sun-dried and is ready for roof thatching.

The Cotton-tree (Gossypium herbaceum, Linn. ?), (Tagalog, Bulac), is found growing in an uncultivated state in many islands of the Archipelago. Long-staple cotton was formerly extensively cultivated in the Province of Ilocos Norte, whence, many years ago, large quantities of good cotton-stuffs were exported. This industry still exists. The cultivation of this staple was, however, discouraged by the local governors, in order to urge the planting of tobacco for the Government supplies. It has since become difficult to revive the cotton production, although an essay, in pamphlet form (for which a prize was awarded in Madrid), was gratuitously distributed over the Colony in 1888 with that object. Nevertheless, cotton spinning and weaving are still carried on, on a reduced scale, in the Ilocos provinces (Luzon west coast).

Wild cotton is practically useless for spinning, as the staple is extremely short, but perhaps by hybridization and careful attention its culture might become valuable to the Colony. The pod is elliptical, and the cotton which bursts from it at maturity is snow-white. It is used for stuffing pillows and mattresses. It was a common thing, before the American occupation, to see (wild) cotton-trees planted along the highroad to serve as telegraph-posts; by the time the seed is fully ripe, every leaf has fallen, and nothing but the bursting pods remain hanging to the branches.

The Buri Palm is a handsome species, of tall growth, with fan-like leaves. Its juice serves as a beverage resembling tuba. The trunk yields a sago flour. The leaves are beaten on boulder stones to extract a fibre for rope-making, of great strength and in constant demand.

The Dita Tree, said to be of the family of the Apocynese and known to botanists as Alstonia scholaris, is possibly a species of cinchona. The pulverized bark has a bitter taste like quinine, and is successfully used by the natives to allay fever. A Manila chemist once extracted from the bark a substance which he called ditaine, the yield of crystallizable alkaloid being 2 per cent.

Palma Brava (Coripha minor) (Tagalog, Banga), [147] is a species of palm, the trunk of which is of great local value. It is immensely strong, and will resist the action of water for years. These trees are employed as piles for quay and pier making—for bridges, stockades, and in any works where strength, elasticity, and resistance to water are required in combination. When split, a fibrous pith is found in the centre much resembling cocoanut coir, but the ligneous shell of the stem still retains its qualities of strength and flexibility, and is used for vehicle-shafts, coolies' carrying-poles, and a variety of other purposes.

Bambusa (Bambusa arundinacea) is a graminifolious plant—one of the most charmingly picturesque and useful adornments of Nature bestowed exuberantly on the Philippine Islands. It grows in thick tufts in the woods and on the banks of rivers. Its uses are innumerable, and it has not only become one of the articles of primary necessity to the native, but of incalculable value to all in the Colony.

There are many kinds of bamboos, distinct in formation and size. The Tagalog generic name for knotted bamboo is Cauayan; the Spanish name is Cana espina. The most common species grows to a height of about 60 feet, with a diameter varying up to eight inches, and is of wonderful strength, due to its round shape and the regularity of its joints. Each joint is strengthened by a web inside. It is singularly flexible, light, elastic, and of matchless floating power. The fibre is tough, but being perfectly straight, it is easy to split. It has a smooth glazed surface, a perfectly straight grain, and when split on any surface, it takes a high polish by simple friction. Three cuts with the bowie-knife are sufficient to hew down the largest bamboo of this kind, and the green leaves, in case of extreme necessity, serve for horses' fodder.

There is another variety also hollow, but not so large as that just described. It is covered with a natural varnish as hard as steel. It is also used for native cabin-building and many other purposes.

A third species, seldom found more than five inches in diameter, is much more solid, having no cavity in the centre divided by webs. It cannot be applied to so many purposes as the first, but where great strength is required it is incomparable.

When the bamboo-plant is cultivated with the view of rendering it annually productive, the shoots are pruned in the dry season at a height of about seven feet from the ground. In the following wet season, out of the clump germinate a number of young shoots, which, in the course of six or eight months, will have reached their normal height, and will be fit for cutting when required. Bamboo should be felled in the dry season before the sap begins to ascend by capillary attraction. If cut out of season it is prematurely consumed by grub (gojo), but this is not much heeded when wanted in haste.

The northern native builds his hut entirely of bamboo with nipa palm-leaf or cogon thatching; in the Province of Yloilo I have seen hundreds of huts made entirely of bamboo, including the roofing. To make bamboo roofing, the hollow canes are split longitudinally, and, after the webbed joints inside have been cut away, they are laid on the bamboo frame-work, and fit into each other, the one convexly, the next one concavely, and so on alternately. In frame-work, no joiner's skill is needed; two-thirds of the bamboo are notched out on one side, and the other third is bent to rectangle. A rural bungalow can be erected in a week. When Don Manuel Montuno, the late Governor of Morong, came with his suite to stay at my up-country bungalow for a shooting expedition, I had a wing added in three days, perfectly roofed and finished.

No nails are ever used, the whole being bound with bejuco. The walls of the cabin are made by splitting the bamboo, and, after removing the webbed joints, each half is beaten out flat. Even in houses of certain pretensions I have often seen split-bamboo flooring, which is highly effective, as it is always clean and takes a beautiful polish when rubbed over a few times with plantain-leaves. In the parish church of Las Pinas, near Manila, there was an organ made of bamboo, of excellent tone, extant up to the year of the Revolution.

When the poor village native wants to put up his house he calls a bayanin, and his neighbours assemble to give him a hand. The bowie-knife is the only indispensable tool. One cuts the bamboo to lengths, another splits it, a third fits it for making the frame-work, another threads the dried nipa-leaves for the roofing, and thus a modest bahay is erected in a week. The most practicable dwelling is the bamboo and nipa house, the only serious drawback being the risk of fire.

Rafts, furniture of all kinds, scaffolding, spoons, carts, baskets, sledges, fishing-traps, fleams, water-pipes, hats, dry and liquid measures, cups, fencing, canoe-fittings, bridges, carrying-poles for any purpose, pitchforks, and a thousand other articles are made of this unexcelled material. Here it serves all the purposes to which the osier is applied in Europe. It floats in water, serves for fuel, and ropes made of it are immensely strong. Bamboo salad is prepared from the very young shoots, cut as soon as they sprout from the root. The value of bamboo in Manila varies according to the season of the year and length of the bamboo, the diameter of course being proportionate.

Bojo (Tagalog, Buho) is a kind of cane, somewhat resembling the bamboo in appearance only. It has very few knots; is brittle, perfectly smooth on the outer and inner surfaces—hollow, and grows to about 25 feet high by 2 inches diameter, and is not nearly so useful as the bamboo. It is used for making light fences, musical instruments, fishing-rods, inner walls of huts, fishing-traps, torches, etc.

Bejuco, or Rattan-cane, belonging to the Calamus family (Tagalog, Hiantoc, also Dit-an), is a forest product commonly found in lengths of, say, 100 feet, with a maximum diameter of half-an-inch. It is of enormous strength and pliancy. Its uses are innumerable. When split longitudinally it takes the place of rope for lashing anything together; indeed, it is just as useful in the regions of its native habitat as cordage is in Europe. It serves for furniture and bedstead-making, and it is a substitute for nails and bolts. Hemp-bales, sugar-bags, parcels of all kinds are tied up with it, and hats are made of it. The ring through a buffalo's nose is made of whole rattan, to which is often attached a split strip for a guiding-rein. Every joint in a native's hut, his canoe, his fence, his cart, woodwork of any kind—indeed, everything to be made fast, from a bundle of sticks to a broken-down carriage, is lashed together with this split material, which must, when so employed, be bent with the shiny skin outside, otherwise it will infallibly snap. The demand for this article is very large.

Bush-rope (Calamus maximus) (Tagalog, Palasan) is also a forest product, growing to lengths of about 100 feet, with a maximum diameter of one inch and a quarter. It is immensely strong. It is used for raft cables for crossing rivers, stays for bamboo suspension-bridges, and a few other purposes. It is sometimes found with knots as far apart as 30 feet. It is a species quite distinct from the Walking-stick Palasan (Calamus gracilis) (Tagalog, Tabola) the appreciated feature of which is the proximity of the knots. I have before me a specimen 34 inches long with 26 knots.

Gum Mastic (Almaciga) is an article of minor importance in the Philippine exports, the supply being very limited. It is said that large quantities exist; but as it is only procurable in almost inaccessible mountainous and uncivilized districts, first-hand collectors in the provinces, principally Chinese, have to depend upon the services and goodwill of unsubdued tribes. It is chiefly obtained by barter, and is not a trade which can be worked up systematically. The exports of this product fluctuate considerably in consequence. For figures of Gum Mastic shipments, vide Chap, xxxi., "Trade Statistics."

Gutta-percha was formerly a more important article of trade in these Islands until the Chinese drove it out of the market by adulteration. A little is shipped from Zamboanga.

Wax (Tagalog, patquit) and cinnamon are to be found in much the same way as gum mastic. There is a large consumption of wax in the Islands for candles used at the numerous religious feasts. The cinnamon is very inferior in quality. It is abundant in Mindanao Island, but, like gum mastic, it can only be procured in small quantities, depending on the caprice or necessities of the mountain-tribes. Going along the seashore in Zamboanga Province, on one occasion, I met a mountaineer carrying a bundle of cinnamon to Zamboanga Port—many miles distant—to sell the bark to the Chinese at [Peso}8 per picul. I bought his load, the half of which I sent to Spain, requesting a friend there to satisfy my curiosity by procuring a quotation for the sample in the Barcelona market. He reported that the quality was so low that only a nominal price could be quoted, and that it stood nowhere compared with the carefully cultivated Ceylon product.

Edible Bird's Nest (Collocalia troglodytes—Coll. nodifica esculenta Bonap.) is an article of trade with the Chinese, who readily purchase it at high prices. It is made by a kind of sea-swallow, and in appearance resembles vermicelli, variegated with blood-coloured spots. The nests are found in high cliffs by the sea, and the natives engaged in their collection reach them by climbing up bush-rope or bamboos with the branch-knots left on to support themselves with their toes. It is a very dangerous occupation, as the nests are always built high in almost inaccessible places. The Filipino risks his life in collecting them, whilst the Chinaman does the safe and profitable business of trading in the article. In the Philippines the collection begins in December, and the birds deprived of their nests have then to build a second nest for laying their eggs. These second nests are gathered about the end of January, and so on up to about the fourth collection. Each successive nest decreases in commercial value, and the last one is hardly worth the risk of taking. Even though there might be venturesome collectors who would dislodge the last nests, the wet season fortunately sets in and prevents their being reached, hence the bird is at length able to continue propagation. Bird's-nest soup is a delicacy in great demand in China.

These nests are chiefly found in the Calamities group of islands, particularly in Busuanga Island. The Sulu Archipelago and Palauan Island also furnish a small quantity of edible birds'-nests.

Balate, or Trepang, is a species of sea-slug, for which the natives find a ready sale to the Chinese at good prices. The fish is preserved by being gutted, cooked, and sun-dried, and has a shrimp taste. It is found in greatest quantities off the Calamianes and Palauan Islands.

Sapan-wood (Caesalpina sappan) (Tagalog, Sibucao, or Sapang), of an inferior quality compared with the Pernambuco wood, is a Philippine product found in most of the large islands. It is a short, unattractive tree, with epigeous branches spreading out in a straggling manner. The leaves are small and sparse. The wood is hard, heavy, crooked, and full of knots. It sinks in water, and is susceptible of a fine polish. It is whitish when fresh cut, but assumes a deep red colour on exposure to the air. The only valuable portion is the heart of the branch, from which is taken a dye known in the trade as "false crimson," to distinguish it from the more permanent cochineal dye. The whole of the colouring-matter can be extracted with boiling water. It is usually shipped from Manila and Yloilo as dunnage, a small quantity coming also from Cebu. For figures of Sapan-wood shipments, vide Chap, xxxi., "Trade Statistics."

The Saps of certain Philippine trees serve to give a polished coating to the smoothed surface of other woods. The kind which I have experimented with most successfully is that of the Ipil tree (Eperna decandria). This gives a glazed covering very similar to Japan-ware varnish. It takes better to the wood in a cold climate than in the tropics. I have tried it both in the Philippines and in Europe.

Dye Saps are also numerous—for instance, that of the species Marsedenia, called in Bicol dialect Payanguit and Aringuit, with which hemp can be dyed blue; the juice of the skin of a root, known in Bicol as Morinda, is used for dyeing hemp red; the sap of the Talisay tree (Terminalia mauritiana) gives a black dye, and that of the Calumpit tree (Terminalia edulis) is a good straw-coloured dye.

Hardwoods.—These Islands are remarkably rich in valuable timber-trees. For some of the details which I will give of the properties and applicability of the varieties in general demand, I am indebted to Mr. H. G. Brown (of H. G. Brown & Co. Limited, [148] steam saw-mill proprietors in Tayabas Province), admitted to be the most experienced person in this branch of Philippine trade.

Aranga (Homalium) gives logs up to 75 feet long by 24 inches square. It is specially used for sea piling and all kinds of marine work which is subject to the attacks of sea-worm (Teredo navalis).

Acle (Mimosa acle) gives logs up to 32 feet by 28 inches square. It is strong, tenacious, and durable, whilst it has the speciality of being difficult to burn, and is much used in house-building; it polishes well, and is much prized by the natives. It is supposed to be identical with the Payengadu of Burmah.

Anagap (Pithecolobium montanum, Benth.) gives logs up to 18 feet long by 16 inches square. It is sometimes used for house furniture and fittings and for other purposes where a light durable wood is wanted and is not exposed to sun and rain.

Apiton (Dipterocarpus griffithi, Miq.) gives logs up to 70 feet long by 24 inches square. It contains a gum of which incense is made, is light when seasoned, works well, and will serve for furniture and general joiner's purposes.

Antipolo (Artocarpus incisa) is much esteemed for vessels' outside planking, keels, etc. It is light, very strong, resists sea-worm (Teredo navalis) entirely, and effects of climate. It does not warp when once seasoned, and is a most valuable wood.

Anobing (Artocarpus ovata) is said to resist damp as well as Molave does, but it is not appreciated as a good hardwood. It is plentiful, especially in the district of Laguna de Bay.

Betis (Azaola—Payena betis?) gives logs up to 65 feet long by 20 inches square. It is proof against sea-worm, is used for salt or fresh water piling, piers, wharves, etc.; also for keels and many other parts of ship-building, and where a first-class wood is indispensably necessary. It is somewhat scarce.

Batitinan (Lagerstroemia batitinan) gives logs up to 40 feet long by 18 inches square. Is very strong, tough, and elastic; generally used for ships' outside planking above water. It stands the climate well when properly seasoned; is a wood of the first quality, and can be used for any purpose except those involving interment in the ground or exposure to ravages of sea-worm. This wood is very much stronger than Teak, and could be used to advantage in its place for almost all purposes. It makes a good substitute for Black Walnut in furniture.

Banaba (Munchaustia speciosa—Lagerstremis speciosa?)—a strong and useful wood much used in house- and ship-building; it is thoroughly reliable when seasoned, otherwise it shrinks and warps considerably.

Bansalague (Mimusops elengi, Linn.) gives logs up to 45 feet long by 18 inches square. It seems to be known in Europe as bullet-tree wood. It can be driven like a bolt, and from this fact and its durability it is frequently used for treenails in ship-building in Manila, etc. It is also used for axe and other tool-handles, belaying-pins, etc., and on account of its compact, close grain it is admirably adapted for turning purposes; it lasts well in the ground.

Bancal (Nauclea gluberrima) gives logs up to 24 feet long by 16 inches square. This wood is of a yellow colour and very easy to work. It is used for general joiner's work in house-building, etc.

Cedar (Cedrela odorata), of the same natural order as Mahogany (Linn.), gives logs up to 40 feet long by 35 inches square, and is used principally for cigar-boxes. In the Colony it is known as Calantas. It makes very handsome inside house-fittings.

Camagon or Mabolo (a variety of Diospyros philoshantera) is procured in roughly rounded logs of 9 feet and upwards in length, by up to 12 inches in diameter. It is a close-grained, brittle wood, and takes a good polish; its colour is black with yellow streaks, and it is used for furniture-making. It might be termed the Philippine Coromandel wood, and is sometimes referred to as "false ebony."

Dungon (a variety of Herculia ambiformis—Sterculia cymbiformis, Blanco) grows up to 50 feet long, giving logs up to 20 inches square. It is sometimes called Ironwood, is very hard and durable, and specially strong in resisting great transverse pressure, or carrying such weight as a heavy roof. It is used for keels on account of its great strength—it does not resist the sea-worm; it is applied to all purposes in Manila where more than ordinary strength is required when Molave cannot be procured in sufficiently great lengths and Ipil is unattainable.

Dinglas (Decandria—Bucida comintana) gives logs up to 30 feet by 16 inches square—occasionally even larger sizes. This will also serve as a substitute for Black Walnut in furniture; it is very strong, hard, and durable.

Ebony (Diospyros nigra) is also found in very limited quantities.

Guijo (Dipterocarpus guijo) gives logs up to 75 feet long by 24 inches square—is very strong, tough and elastic. In Manila this wood is invariably used for carriage wheels and shafts. In Hong-Kong it is used, amongst other purposes, for wharf-decks or flooring.

Ipil (Eperna decandria) gives logs up to 50 feet long by 26 inches square. It has all the good qualities of Molave, except resistance to sea-worm (in which respect it is the same as Teak), and may be as much relied on for duration under ground; for sleepers it equals Molave.

Lanete (Anaser laneti) gives logs up to 25 feet long by 18 inches square. It is useful for sculpture, musical instruments, decoration, turning, and cabinet purposes.

Lauan (Dipterocarpus thurifera) is obtained in sizes the same as Guijo. It is a light, useful wood, and easily worked. It is said that the outside planks of the old Philippine-Mexican galleons were of this wood because it did not split with shot.

Molave (Vitex geniculata) (Tagalog, Molauin), gives logs up to 35 feet long by 24 inches square. It resists sea-worm (Teredo navalis), white ants (Termes), and action of climate, and consequently is specially valuable for work on the surface of or under ground, and generally for all purposes where an extra strong and durable wood is required. Often growing crooked, it is commonly used (where produced and in adjacent countries) for frames of vessels. Owing to its imperviousness to ligniperdous insects and climate, it cannot possibly be surpassed for such purposes as railway-sleepers. This wood is practically everlasting, and is deservedly called by the natives, "Queen of the Woods." It pays better to sell Molave in baulks or logs, rather than sawn to specification, because this tree has the great defect of being subject to heart-cup.

Mr. Thomas Laslett, in his work on timber, [149] says, in reference to Molave, "It can be recommended to notice as being fit to supplement any of the hardwoods in present use for constructive purposes." From the same work I have extracted the following record of experiments made by Mr. Laslett with this wood:—

TENSILE EXPERIMENTS.—AVERAGE OF FIVE SPECIMENS

Dimensions of each piece. 2'' x 2'' x 30'' Specific gravity. 1021.6 Weight the piece broke with. 31,248 lbs. Direct cohesion one square inch. 7,812

TRANSVERSE EXPERIMENTS.—AVERAGE OF THREE SPECIMENS

Deflections. Total weight required to break each piece. 1.25 lbs. Specific gravity. .166 Weight reduced to specific gravity 1,000. 5.166 Weight required to break one square inch. 1,243.3 lbs.

With the apparatus weighing 390 lbs. 1013 After the weight was removed 1231 At the crisis of breaking. 310.83

N.B.—It breaks on test with a scarf-like fracture.

Mangachapuy (Dipterocarpus mangachapuy—Vatica apteranthera) gives logs up to 55 feet long by 20 inches square. It is very elastic and withstands the climate, when seasoned, as well as Teak. It is used in Manila for masts and decks of vessels and for all work exposed to sun and rain. It is much esteemed and in great demand by those who know its good qualities.

Macasin can be used for interior house work and floors. It is somewhat inferior to Banaba, but supplies its place when Banaba is scarce. It can be got in greater length and square than Banaba.

Malatapay (a variety of Diospyros philoshantera), veined black and red. It resembles Camagon.

Mancono is a very hard wood found in Mindanao Island; it is classed as a species of lignum-vitae.

Narra (Pterocarpus palidus santalinus) gives logs up to 35 feet long by 26 inches square. It is the Mahogany of the Philippines, inasmuch as it is always employed in Manila in the manufacture of furniture, for notwithstanding its somewhat open grain, it polishes well, and is prettily marked. There is a variety of shades in different logs varying from straw colour to blood-red, the former being more common; all are, however, equally esteemed. It is a first-rate wood for general purposes. In the London market it is classed with the Padouk of Burmah.

Palo Maria de Playa (P. Polyandria—Calophyllum inophyllum) (Tagalog, Dangcalan), is greatly appreciated for crooks and curves, but as a rule cannot be found of suitable dimensions for large vessels. It is better than Molave for this purpose, for, due to the absence of acrid juices, iron bolts do not corrode in it. It is exceedingly tough and not so heavy as Molave.

Supa (Sindora wallichii, Benth.) gives logs up to 40 feet long by 28 inches square. It produces an oil, and is a strong wood for general purposes, polishes well and can be used advantageously for house decorations and furniture.

Tindalo (Eperna rhomboidea) is about the same as Acle in its principal features, but not notable for resisting fire. It is useful for general purposes, and in particular for decorations and furniture. It is somewhat brittle, and takes a high polish.

Yacal (Dipterocarpus plagatus) gives logs up to 50 feet long by 22 inches square. It is proof against white ants, has great strength and tenacity, and is much valued in Manila for house-building, etc.

Natives employed in the felling of timber often become very expert in the selection and appreciation of the standing trunks.

The approximate order of resistance of the best woods, estimated by their practical employment and not by theoretical comparative experiments, would be as follows, viz.:—

HARDWOOD STRAINS

Tensile Strain. Transverse Strain.

1 Dungon. 8 Acle. 1 Molave. 8 Banaba. 2 Yacal. 9 Narra. 2 Camagon. 9 Yacal. 3 Ipil. 10 Tindalo. 3 Ipil. 10 Mangachapuy. 4 Mangachapuy. 11 Molave. 4 Acle. 11 Lauan. 5 Guijo. 12 Lauan. 5 Dungon. 12 Guijo. 6 Banaba. 13 Cedar. 6 Tindalo. 13 Cedar. 7 Camagon. 14 Lanete. 7 Narra. 14 Lanete.

The hardwoods of the Philippines, suitable for building and trade requirements as described above, are those in general use only. Altogether about fifty kinds exist, but whilst some are scarce, others do not yield squared logs of sufficient sizes to be of marketable value. Amongst these are the Quercus concentrica (Tagalog, Alayan), a sort of oak; the Gimbernatia calamansanay (Tagalog, Calamansanay); the Cyrtocarpa quinquestyla (Tagalog, Amaguis), and others.

To carry on successfully a timber trade in this Colony, with ability to fulfil contracts, it is necessary to employ large capital. Firstly, to ensure supplies by the cutters, the trader must advance them sums amounting in the total to thousands of pesos, a large percentage of which he can only nominally recover by placing them against future profits; secondly, he must own several sailing-ships, built on a model suited to this class of business. Several Europeans have lost the little money they had by having to freight unsuitable craft for transport to the place of delivery, and by only advancing to the native fellers just when they wanted logs brought down to the beach, instead of keeping them constantly under advance. With sufficient capital, however, a handsome profit is to be realized in this line of business, if it is not killed by too much new legislation.

So far Philippine woods have not met in London with the appreciation due to their excellent qualities, possibly because they are not sufficiently well known. In China, however, they are in great demand, in spite of the competition from Borneo (Kudat and Sandakan) and Australian shippers. Since the American occupation, large shipments of Oregon Pine have been made to the Colony: how this wood will stand the climate is not yet ascertainable.



Fruits.—There are few really choice, luscious fruits in the Philippines which can compare with the finest European species. Nothing in this Colony can equal our grape, peach, cherry, or strawberry.

The Mango (Manguifera indica—Pentandrie, Linn.) ranks first in these Islands. It is oblong—oval-shaped—flattened slightly on both sides, about five inches long, and of a yellow colour when ripe. It is very delicious, succulent, and has a large stone in the centre from which fibres run at angles. To cut it, the knife must be pressed down from the thick end, otherwise it will come in contact with the fibres. Philippine mangoes are far superior to any others grown in the East. This fruit has a slight flavour of turpentine, and, as to smell, Manuel Blanco [150] doubts whether it more resembles bugs, onions, or tar. The trees are very large and majestic—the leaves are dark green, and the whole appearance strikingly noble. Great care is needed to rear the fruit. The natives cut notches in the trunk, and from the time the tree begins to flower until the fruit is half matured, they light fires on the ground under its branches, as the smoke is said to hasten the development. The tree begins to bear fruit at ten years old.

The first mangoes of the season are forced, and even picked before they are ripe, so that they may more quickly turn yellow. They are brought to the Manila market in February, and fetch as much as 20 cents each. The natural ripening time is from the end of March. In the height of the season they can be bought for two dollars per hundred. Epicures eat as many as ten to a dozen a day, as this fruit is considered harmless to healthy persons. Mango jelly is also appreciated by Europeans as well as natives. Luzon and Cebu Islands appear to produce more mangoes than the rest of the Archipelago. From my eight mango-trees in Morong district I got annually two pickings, and one year three pickings from two trees.

There are other species of mango-tree of the genus Terebinthaceae, viz.:—Manguifera anisodora, M. altissima, M. rostrata and M. sinnata.

The Banana or Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) is plentiful all over the Islands at all seasons. It grows wild, and is also largely cultivated. It is the fruit of an herbaceous endogenous plant of the natural order Musaceae. It is said that the specific name paradisiaca is derived, either from a supposition that the plantain was the forbidden fruit of Eden [151], or from an Arabic legend that Adam and Eve made their first aprons of the leaves of this tree, which grow to a length of five to six feet, with a width of 12 to 14 inches. Some 10 to 12 distinct varieties of bananas are commonly to be seen, whilst it is asserted that there are over 50 sorts differing slightly from each other. The Tagalog generic name for this tree and fruit is Saguing. The species known in Tagalog dialect as Lacatan and Bongulan, of a golden or orange tinge when the skin is removed and possessing a slight pineapple flavour, are the choicest. The Tondoc is also a very fine class. The stem of the banana-plantain is cut down after fruiting, and the tree is propagated by suckers. [152] Renewal of the tree from the seed is only necessary every 12 to 18 years. The fruit is borne in long clusters on strong stalks which bend over towards the earth. As the suckers do not all rise simultaneously, the stages of growth of the young fruit-bearing trees vary, so that there is a constant supply all the year round. Moreover, it is customary to cut down, and hang up in the house, the stalk sustaining the fruit before it is ripe, so that each fruit can be eaten as it matures. The glossy leaves of the banana-plantain are exceedingly beautiful. They are used for polishing hardwood floors; they serve as a substitute for plates at the tianguis and for wrapping-paper at the small native and Chinese grocers' shops. In rural places if a carromata driver cannot find a leather horse-collar, he improvises one of banana-leaf.

The Papaw tree (Carica. papaya) flourishes wild—a prolific growth—attains a height of 20 to 25 feet, and is very picturesque. The leaves emerge in a cluster from the top of the stem, and are about 20 to 30 inches long. They can be used as a substitute for soap for washing linen. The foliage has the peculiar property of making meat or poultry tender if hung up in the branches. The fruit is of a rich olive green, and remains so almost to maturity, when it quickly turns yellow. Both in shape and flavour it is something like a melon, and, although more insipid, it is refreshing in this climate. Containing a quantity of pepsine, it is often recommended by doctors as a dessert for persons with weak digestive organs.

Besides these fruits, there are Pomelo oranges, about four times the size of the largest European orange; ordinary-sized Oranges of three sorts; Citron; Jack fruit (Anona muricata, Linn., or more probably Artocarpus integrifolia) (Tagalog, Nangca); Custard Apples (Anona squamosa, Linn.) (Tagalog, Atis); Bread-fruit (Artocarpus camansi) (Tagalog, Dalangian or Dalamian); Lomboy (Calyptrantes jambolana—Icosandrie, Linn.), which looks like a damson; Santol (Sandoricum ternatum—Decandrie, Linn.), delicious prepared in syrup; Condol, (Monoecia syngenesia—Cucurbita pepo aspera), a kind of white pumpkin for preserving; Limes (Tagalog, Limonsuangi); small green Limes (Tagalog, Calamansi) for preserving; another kind called Lucban; a diminutive Mango (Manguifera altissima) (Tagalog, Paho), which is brined and then put in vinegar; Pomegranates (Punica granatum); a very inferior species of wild Strawberry; Chico (Achras sapota—Hexandrie, Linn.), the Chico sapoti of Mexico, extremely sweet, the size and colour of a small potato; Lanson (Lansium domesticum), a curious kind of fruit of an agreeable sweet and acid flavour combined. The pericarp is impregnated with a white viscous fluid, which adheres very tenaciously to the fingers. When the inner membrane is removed the edible portion is exhibited in three divisions, each of which envelops a very bitter stone. It is abundant in La Laguna.

Guavas (Psidium pyriferum guyava, Linn.) (Tagalog, Bayabas) of very fine quality, from which jelly is made, are found wild in great abundance. They are so plentiful on waste lands that I have never seen them cultivated. The peel is an excellent astringent. Lemons [153] of two kinds are grown—sometimes as many as a dozen of the small species, about the size of a walnut, may be seen hanging at one time on a tree only 18 inches high; a well-known small species is called Dayap in Tagalog. Mangosteens, the delicate fruit of the Straits Settlements, are found in the islands of Mindanao and Sulu. In Mindanao Island, on the neck of land forming the western extremity, the Durien thrives. It is about as large as a pineapple, white inside, and when ripe it opens out in three or four places. It is very delicious eating, but has a fetid smell. The seeds, as large as beans, are good to eat when roasted. The tree bears fruit about every 20 years.

Pineapples (Bromelia ananas, Linn.) are abundant in the Southern Islands, where they are cultivated exclusively for the sake of the leaves, the delicate fibres of which are used to manufacture the fine, costly texture known as Pina (q.v.). This fruit, which is not so fine as the Singapore and Cuban species, is in little demand in the Philippines, as it is justly considered dangerous to eat much of it.

Grape acclimatization has been attempted in the Philippines, but with very mediocre results. Cebu seems to be the island most suitable for vine culture, but the specimens of fruit produced can bear no comparison with the European. In Naga (Cebu Is.) I have eaten green Figs grown in the orchard of a friend's house.

Tamarinds (Tamarindus indica, Linn.) (Tagalog, Sampaloc) are never planted for the sake of the fruit. The tree grows wild, and the fruit resembles a bean. Picked whilst green, it is used by the natives to impart a flavour to certain fish sauces. When allowed to ripen fully, the fruit-pod takes a light-brown colour—is brittle, and cracks all over under a slight pressure of the fingers. The whole of the ripe fruit can then be drawn out by pulling the bean-stalk. The ripe tamarind appears to be little appreciated by any one, and it is extremely seldom seen, even in the form of a preserve, in a native dwelling. Containing, as it does, a large quantity of tannin, it is sometimes used by the Manila apothecaries, and I once heard that a small parcel was being collected for shipment to Italy.

The Mabolo (Diospyros discolor) (Tagalog, Mabolo, also Talang) is a fruit of great external beauty and exquisite aroma. It is about the size of a large peach, the pubescent skin being of a fine red colour, but it is not very good eating. Chillies (Capsicum minimum, Blanco), Ginger (Zingiber officinale, Linn.), Capsicums (Capsicum tetragonum, Mill), Capers (Capparris mariana) and Vanilla are found in a wild state. Sago is produced in small quantities in Mindoro Island, where the sago-plant flourishes. The pith is cut out, washed, sun-dried, and then pounded. The demand for this nutritious article is very limited. In 1904 I found the Cassava plant growing near the south coast of Mindanao Island.

There are many other kinds of orchard and wild fruits of comparatively inferior quality, chiefly used by the natives to make preserves. There is also a large variety of tuberose and other vegetable products, never eaten by Europeans, such as the favourite Sincamas (Decandria—Pachyrhizus angulatus), resembling a small turnip. The natives have a taste for many fruits plucked half ripe.

The Flowers of these Islands are too numerous for their description to come within the scope of this work. To the reader who seeks an exhaustive treatise on the Botany of the Philippines, I would recommend Manuel Blanco's "Flora de Filipinas," [154] from which I have taken the following brief notes.

Philippine Flowers According to Manuel Blanco

Orders. Genera. Species. Varieties. Sub-varieties.

Dicotyledones 126 842 2,571 349 5 Monocotyledones 26 325 1,425 270 25 Acotyledones 3 56 483 11 —

155 1,223 4,479 630 30

Some of the most curious and beautiful botanical specimens, not already described in the preceding pages, are the following, viz.:—

Arum (?) divaricatum, Linn. (Tagalog, Gabigabihan).—A delicate bulb. Common in Pasig and Manila.

Amaryllis atamasco, Blanco (Tagalog, Bacong).—A bulb. Grows to 3 feet. Beautiful large red flower. Blooms in February.

Agave americana (Tagalog, Magui).—It is one of a large variety of Aloes. (Mexican origin?)

Asplendium nidus.—The beautiful Nest-fern.

Bignonia quadripinnata, Blanco (Tagalog, Pinca-Pincahan).—A curious flower.

Clerodendron longiflorum, D.C.—An extremely beautiful and delicate white flower.

Cactus pitajaya, Blanco (Tagalog, Flor de Caliz).—Gives a grand, showy flower.

Caryota urens, Linn (Tagalog, Taquipan).—A beautiful palm. Grows to 22 feet. The fruit, when tender, is masticated like the Areca catechu.

Caryota onusta, Blanco (Tagalog, Cauong).—A fine palm. Gives a sweet juice which turns into good vinegar. The trunk gives a Sago, called by the natives Yoro. The ripe seeds are a deadly poison. An infusion of the seeds in water is so caustic that it has been used to throw on to Moro pirates and thieves; wherever it touches the body it burns so terribly that none can suffer it or cure it. Sometimes it is thrown into the rivers to stupefy the fish, which then float and can be caught with the hand. When unripe the seeds are made into a preserve. The seeds have also medicinal properties.

Cryptogamia.—Nine families of very luxuriant ferns.

Cryptogamia.—Boletus sanguineus (Tagalog, Culapo).—A curious blood-red Fungus.

Dillenia Reifferscheidia (Tagalog, Catmon).—A very singular, showy flower.

Exocarpus ceramica, D.C.—A curious Cactus.

Euphorbia tirucalli, Linn.—A curious Cactus.

Erythrina carnea, Blanco (Tagalog, Dapdap).—Grows to 20 feet. Gives a lovely red flower.

Hibiscus syriacus, Linn. (Several varieties of Hibiscus.)

Hibiscus abelmoschus, Linn.

Mimosa pudica, Linn.—Mimosa asperata, Blanco (Tagalog, Mahihin).—The "Sensitive Plant," so called because at the least contact with anything it closes up all the little petals forming the leaf. It is one of the most curious plants in the Islands. It has a small red flower. Grows only a few inches from the ground, among the grass.

Mimosa tenuifolia, Blanco.—The "Sensitive Tree," which has the same property of closing the leaf on contact.

Mimosa scutifera, Blanco.—A tree with seed-pods hanging down like curls.

Momordica sphoeroidea, Blanco (Tagalog, Buyoc-buyoc).—Climbs high trees. The fruit is eaten when cooked. Soap is obtained from the roots.

Nelumbium speciosum, Wild (Tagalog, Baino; Igorrote, Sucao).—An aquatic plant found in the Lake of Bay and other places. Beautiful pink or red flower. The natives eat the roots and seeds.

Passiflora laurifolia, Linn.—A curious Passion-flower, quite different to the European species.

Pancratium zeylanicum (Tagalog, Catongal).—A bulb giving a very peculiar flower.

Pinus toeda.—The only kind of Pine known here. To be found in the mountains of Mancayan (Lepanto) and Benguet.

Spathodea luzonica, Blanco (Tagalog, Tue).—Grows to 15 feet. Gives a gorgeous white flower. Common on the sea-shores. The wood is used for making guitars and clogs.



Philippine Orchids The principal Orders

** Natural crosses or hybrids—rare and valuable.

Genera. Species. Aerides Augustiarium Lawrenciae Marginatum Quinquevulnerum Roebelinii Sanderianum Bulbophyllum Dearei Cymbidium Pendulum Pendulum atro purpureum Cypripedium Laevigatum Boxallii Stonei Argus Dendrobium Anosmum Aurem philippinense Crumenatum Erythroxanthum Dearei Macrophyllum Superbum Superbum giganteum Platycanlon Taurinum Gramatophyllum Measuresianum Multiflorum Multiflorum tigrinum Speciosum Phalaenopsis Amabalis **Casta **Intermedia **Intermedia brymeriana **Intermedia portei **Intermedia lencorrhoda Luddemaniana ochracia Schilleriana Rosea Sanderiana Sanderiana punctata Stuartiana Stuartiana bella Stuartiana nobilis Stuartiana punctatissima Schilleriana vestalis Veitchiana Veitchiana brachyodon Platyclinis or Cobbiana Dendrochilum Filiformis Glumacea Uncata Renanthera Storiei Saccolabeum Violaccum Blumei Blumei majus Sarcochilus Unguiculatus Vanda Sanderiana Sanderiana albata Sanderiana labello viridi Batemanii Lamellata boxallii