The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-06-23
new FIELDS !
OF FORTUNE.
Wonderful Resources Of the Phil.
ippines- -Untold Riches For
Americans to Develop.

l~ionaire in sugar growing in the Philip
pines.
Indigo plants grow in incredible
l~uxuriance throughout the Philippines.
The soil is so fertile that the least labor
gives surprising results. Indigo plants
yield double the capital used. Many OF
the richest families in Manila-people
who live in Madrid and Paris about
one-third Of the time and keep up royal
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES made their wealth
In the indigo trade. The Alvarado lam
lily owns an indigo plantation OF about
20, 900 acres and al indigo works on
Samar, and 1t derives a revenue Of fully
$40, 900. An American with half an
eve can see many improvements and
economies that might be made there
but he would not be thanked for sug.
costing them to any Philippine Oh Span
lard.
"Cocoanut trees are a bigger resourc
than one might suppose. The fruit is
demanded in tho markets Of the world
as much as oranges and lemons Every
part Of the tree is useful. The juices
make oil ard wine, the ibers Of the
leaves is woven into cloth, and the
husks of the nuts are shipped by the
toatload TO England for doormats and
ether household articles. Profits Of $3.50
an acre from a grove of c~ocoanuts are
common, but in this land Of siestas and
procrastination the people are 30 thrift
less that they never rise to meet the
market by extensive paintings Of cocoa
nut trees. To the native a %cocoanut tree
is a veritable staff of life. 1t will fur.
nish his food, intoxicant, oil, vinegar,
vessels, brushes, fish lines, ropes, fuel
and water. A cocoanut produces fruit
when 8 years old in the Philippines. I
know q young Englishman wLo spent
about SIS, 900 in starting a cocoanut
grove II miles from Cavite, on Luzon.
The Spanish were SO afraid he would
induce other en~terprising British to
come and do like him that they ruined
him in a few years by all manner Of i'm
posts and exactions. For instance, he
had to pay about 800 to the govern
ment at Manila before he picked his
first crop, and he had to pay an export
duty of 10 per cent extra because he
was not q native.
"To illustrate how marvelously fer
tile is the soil in the Philippines, let
me tell about the coffee plants. About
20 years ago several S~paniards began
the cultivation Of coffee In q little val
ley away at the north end Of Luzon.
They were the first coffee plants ever
known on the island. A little wild ami
NAL resembling the civet of Africa "a
cross between a weasel and b fox began
eating and scattering the growing coffee
berries. In q few years the plants grow
ing from the scattered coffee berries
we're all over that part of Luzon. For
years past there have been wild coffee
bushes all over the island, and all came
from the civets' scattering OF the coffee
seeds. Thousands Of pounds are gather
ed from these wild bushes by the ma
tives.
nowhere else does rice grow 70
politically as in the Philippines. The
Chinese control the rice industry Of the
islands, but the Negritos do the work.
There are a dozen Chinese m~illionaires
in Manila, and they have made their
wealth largely in tho rice and sugar
trade. Under American management
the profits of rice growing could be
easily enlarged. / think / am conserva-
tive in saying that by the crude. lazy
ways of harvesting 80 per cent Of the
yield is wasted. 1t would make a thrifty
Yankee farmer groan to see the reckless
waste of the natives.
Tobacco grows on all the principal
islands. Vanilla, pepper and cassia,
which are cultivated elsewhere in the
world, grow wild and in great clumps
ON the Philippine islands. Wheat and
corr may be grown at the extreme north
Of tho archipelago. Oranges, lemons
and guavas flourish in the forests and
back hills. Not the least horticultural
science has been exerted toward making
superior varieties Of these fruits. / have
seen in the dense tropical forests OF
Mindanao thousands of the trees of cost
ly woods, rs logwood, ebony, mahogany
and ironwood. Great fortunes await
the men who shall get u concession to
go and operate there. Sailors who have
ventured far into these forests tell me
that the ebony and mahogany trees
there are the finest they have ever seen.
~Pincapples and bananas abound in damp
spots and are n source Of revenu on
some islands, but tho Central American
products have kept these fruits out Of
the American markets.
"Navigators who visited the Philip
pines in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries all told Of the quantity of gold
the natives had az ornaments about
their nccks. wrists aud ankles and Of
how the precious metal was dug in the
river beds of the islands. have heard
metallurgists say that the topography
Of the islands Of Sulu and Gcgritos indi-
Gates the presence Of gold. The Spanish
have always been chary about permit
ting foreigners, especially English and
Americans. to. enter those islands,
therefore mo- scientific prospecting for