Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-16

the sacred COW of India and what is prob
ably the Australian COW The animals look
like Jerseys. They give milk in small guam
titles. but of the richest quality. The peo-
pie do not use the milk for cheese or but
ter.
The country is especially well watered 1t
has cold springs and mountain streams fur
nishng as good water as the dairy counties
of Orange and Delaware in New York. The
cattle thrive, and it would seem that this
might become a great dairy land and sup
ply the butter and cheese of this part of the
world. Such articles have been imported
chiefly from Europe and the United States.
but of late large amount of Australian
dairy products and Australian beef Is be-
ing brought in.
These dairy lands extend all along the
foothills of the mountains, and they are
found in spots in the mountains themselves.
am told that there are rich grass lands in
the interior along the streams and about
the numerous lakes for which Mindanao is
noted.
Land of Valuable Timber.
The timber here is excellent, and the
mountains are covered with 1t. The trees
are large and straight. many Of them ex-
tending upward for fifty or seventy-f1ve
feet without knot or a limb. There are
ninety varieties of wood. soft and hard. in
Guiding mahogany, teak. ebony, walnut and
cedar The cedar is Of delicate pink, and
could be used for cigar boxes. There are
diSO trees WHICH ylelQ VdluaDle aye WOODS.
They are red. yellow and of other colors. 1t
is said that rubber trees exist, but see no
rubber in the markets. and have no reliable
information regarding it.
A great deal of resin Is brought into Da-
vac. Some comes from a tree called Alma
ciga- 1t is a transparent wax and Is ship
ped to Paris where 1t Is used for making
wax dolls and also for varnish. The trees
are tapped and the thick sap that runs out
hardens before it falls to the ground. 1t
is pulled from the trunks in Jumps and
brought in by the natives for sale
All the lumber here is sawed out by hand.
the logs being brought to the town and
here cut into pieces. board by board. A
house Is being built of mahogany here in
Davao 1t Is a two-story structure. fully
eighteen inches in diameter and ten inches
high. The roof is of bamboo poles with
thatch of green nipa leaves: the dark ma
hogany wood forms the walls, and the tall
cocoanut trees which hang over 1t give it
plcturesqueness inconceivable to people who
know only the temperate zone When
went by the house this morning the carpen-
tiers were at work. Logs sixty feet long
and two feet square lay about every where
One was upon trestles and two natives were
saving 1t by hand into boards I am told
that the workmen have been labor!ng upon
this house for two years. and that 1t has al
ready cost 5000.
Even with good saw mills the difficulties
OF numbering in this country will be great.
1t Will be almost impossible to get some
"a eAio "oJu ouI ne trees IN many places
are bound together with long Iianas or
vines, making an almost impenetrabie jun
gle There are frequent streams. but many
varieties Of the wood are heavy that
they Will not float. although I should think
that they might be brought to the sea-
coast on RATS of bamboo. I am tolo that
the logs of soft wood and those of hard
wood are sometimes fioated down together,
every alternate log being of some soft light
wood. such as cedar. thus counteracting
the weight OF the heavy ebony or rosewood
or teak.
Our Soldiers Gardens.
The soil about Davao appears to me to
be exceedingly rich. 1t Is as black as your
nat and Is in places from six to ten feet in
depth. There seems, in fact to be no end
to 1t. for where the rivers cut through you
see nothing but this rich black soil. It
will grow almost ny.hing-sweet potatoes.
Irish potatoes and maize l am told by
the natives that wheat. barley and the
hardier grains can be grown in the noun
tains and that coffee and cacao would EVIL
IDENTIFY thrive in the lowlands. There are
many delicious bananas and one or two
large hemp plantations.
Captain Burchfield. who runs the officers
mess, has cleared about a quarter of an
acre just outside Of the town and has
planted sweet potatoes. watermeIons, can
taloupes and other such things. His vege-
tables are all growing finely. and in short
time he will have q better garden than
you can find in the states
1t would be good idea for the Secretary
OF Agriculture to send seeds to all of our
permanent posts in the Philippines. Each
station would start its own garden and we
would thus have a large number of ex-
perimental farms at no cost whatever TO
the government. The people would learn
the posts would serve little agricultural
SCHOOLS. which would be- of great value in
aiding the work of civilization.
They Need American Tools,
What the natives especially need Just
now are agricultural Implements They do
everything in the most difficult way Such
implements as steel harrows and plows are
unknown. There are not, venture to say,
a dozen plows in the province of Davao,
and such as there are, are merely crooked
sticks. with piece Of iron fastened to the
END FOR mould board. The harrows are
bamboo poles with the limbs so trimmed
that they scratch the earth when the poles
are dragged over it. have seen no hoes,
nor anything in the way of good tools
notwithstanding this. all kinds of seeds
sprout up and grow 1uxuriantly. 1t being
only necessary to keep down the weeds.
! am told that Major Hunter Liggett
who Is in charge of the soldiers in this
region has already sent to the Agricultural
Department for supply of seeds He
wants all sorts OF vegetables. including
peas. beans. cabbages and cauliflowers. He
should have variety Of lettuces and rad
ASieS' hiiu III lat every tIllUS III the Vego-
table line. 1t might be a good idea to in
clude some tobacco and cotton seeds, as
well as the seeds of the rubber plants
which are now being cultivated in Brazil
Grasses should be sent to test the grazing
possibilities, and IL some Holstein or Ayr
shire cattle could be put upon some of our
mule transports and brought here satisfac-
tory tests of the nilk-producing capacities
OF the country could be made.
Tho Town of Davao.
through the town Of Dayao. 1t is more
Ike botanical garden than a United
States village. Imagine thousands of tall
palms waving their fan-like leaves in the
air above collection of matched cot
tages built along wide level streets Let
some of the palms have great punches Of
green and yellow cocoanuts hanging to
them and others be loaded with the round
green and yellow nuts Of the betel. Let
there be bananas here and there. beds of
nipa, great fern-like punches of leaves.
each fifteen feet long and a yard wide,
sprouting up from the ground. Put in cot |
ton trees from twenty to thirty feet high,
their leahess branches standing out at |
right angles with their white trunks, and
great bolls Of white wool hanging to them. |
Let there be flowers of strange shapes and |
colors. Hang an orchid here and there |
upon dead branch and under all put |
turf as thick and as green as that Of the |