Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-31

system of good roads, monument to COM
pulsory human labor which will bless the
workmen. o~a,f
The government will wisely foster in
every way the planting interest on tn.
island and agricultural development 'ln
all that concerns-t the prosperity and social
advancement of the people," says Mr.. Fer
guson, Its influence cannot be over-esti
mated; for to those districts where its d.
rect benefits in the dissemination of wealth
through laborers. artticers, cartmen, eX-
change of products. etc, do not reach,
there come the votes of surplus revenue
due to planting, opening up roads, restor
ing irrigation tanks building schools, hos
pitfalls and dispensaries, and otherwise pro-
vdns, the meansTof material and moral
progress. In such districts no public money
could he spent wefe 1t not for the increased
and increasing revenue created by the
planting enterprise
Foster Botanical and Culture Gardens
In addition to sing the facilities of
communication and transportation the gov
| eminent can aid in the full development of
| the agricultural resources of the island by
| fostering culture gardens where expert
| ments may be constantly made tending to
| improve the quality of present products of
/ anu 10 Indicate new anu
| growths, not now cultivated, for which the
| soil may be adapted. The experience of
| both Java and Ceylon, and especially of
| the latter indicates the danger of reliance
upon a single great staple. The coffee
| blight was on this account an almost ire
| trievable disaster to Ceylon, and under
present conditions of prosperity too much
! reliance Is it is conceded, placed upon tea
| planting. AS already pointed out. the geo
| graphical situation of Luzon, in connection
with its larger area, endows it with greater
capacities for the cultivation Of diversified
crops than are given to Ceylon.
1t is to be hoped that the government
will so dispose Of the public lands as to
build up, in connection with present pri-
Vate landowners, vigorous and progress
sive aggregation Of planters, corresponding
to the men who were attracted to Java by
the money advances and the assurance of
raw material furnished by the culture sys-
TEN, and to Ceylon by the gratuitous land
grants at first. cheap land always and the
encouragement and fostering care Of the
government.
To the energy and intelligent enterprise
of the Planters Association in Ceyon is
attributed much of the islands prosperity.
Conan Doyle. referring to the manner In
which these men rallied from the blow adj
ministered by the coffee disease. says:
Not often is it that men have the heart
when their one great industry is withered
to rear up in a few years another as rich
to take its place, and the tea fields of Cey
lon are as true monument to courage as
is the lion at Waterloo. My story con-
Germs the royal days of coffee-planting in
Ceylon before a rotting fungus drove
whole community through years of despair
to one of the greatest commercial victories
which pluck and ingenuity have ever Won"
Culture experiments, careful, scientific,
long continued prepared the way for the
triumph which Conan Doyle thus eulogiZes.
The old Botanical Garden in Manila, long
neglected, can easily be made to rival those
at Buitenzorg and Peradenya. with culture
gardens for products Of the low-lying soil
of the island similar ;to those attached to
the famous Botaaical Gardens of Java and
Ceylon. Then it will not be difficult to find
in Luzon suitable spot Gas In Benguet
province) for the: experimental culture of
groWths adapted-to the soil of the higher
attitudes, like the culture grounds at Til
bodas on Salak mountain in Java and at
Hakgala and Anaradhapura in Ceylon.
The Philippines extend through so many
degrees Of latitude and are endowed with
o"ei " Wv elf'i.J VI NiAAiiS'eie Soii-
ditions that the culture gardens cannot be
limited to Luzonobut must stretch a care
fully located series of stations as far south
as Sulu. q f2
The Spanish createdIia Manila School of
Agriculture in 1887. and established ex-
perimental stations at various points, but
failed to push the enterprise to successful.
practical results.
Make Haste Slowly In Remodeling the
MahOmetan.
On other points of doubt in our Philip
pines problem besides the vital ones of Land
and labor. Java and Ceylon speak with
equal distinctness. Concerning Mahometan
polygamy they say: Ignore it. permit 1t to
die out naturally. as barbarous and costly
luxury. with the increase of modern In
huences In the environment Of the man who
may, If he can afford it, have many wives.
Concerning slavery of the mild type that
prevails in the Philippines they say: While
not countenancng 1t (and never forgetting
that the Constitution does not permit 1t to