Evening star., 1901-10-11

surance. taxes freight. warehousing and
brokerage, will not be less than 5000. The
plantation should yield 5000 piculs of hemp
belonging wholly to the owner. worth safe
ly an average for all grades Of "a per pfcul
baled, and 5000 piculs obtained on shares.
adding, when baled, 81 per picul to the
planters profit. or a return of $4,000 on an
investment Of $4,000.
Sugar Is Less Hardy.
sugar lands range in price quite ss
widely as do hemp lands. In Negros. re-
garded as the best island for sugar. good
lands may be had for SIS gold per acre. 1t
costs at least four times as much In prov
inces near Manila. There is not a planta-
ton in the archipelago with modern mill
The waste in extraction runs to very
high percentage.
MEN claiming to be informed say that
the quality of Negros cane Is quite equal
to that grown In Hawaii, on land held at
$1,000 per acre. Outlay for proper ma
chinery must, Of course, be large. and in
vestors must reckon with beet sugar com
petition and with uncertain labor condi-
tions Unlike hemp, sugar must ce maae
when the crop Is ready, or there VIII De
serious loss.
1.-THE native works on shares, and as he
insists on advances on his pay, ms service
Is not always reliable. Hemp may De
stripped at any season, since 1t natures all
through the year.
1.-THE impression prevails that q great
|
There certainly seems no doubt that vast
tracts Of land are well adapted to cane cul-
tivation and may be bought cheaply. Crops
sometimes pay finely in spite OF Wasteful
methods. Fortunes are said to have re-
warded many ventures in this line. On the
other hand, several ambitious sugar enter
prises turned out disastrously. The aver
age planter is addicted to princely tastes.
When he has money the earth contains
nothing too good for him. In Off years he
is obliged to call on the usurers the result
being that most of the estates are hope
lessly mortgaged."
Public Lands Valuable.
Timber seems to be particularly ha-
rassed Heavy licenses prevent the cut
ting and dressing of native wood. and
Michigan and California producers are un-
willing to ship lumber while the license
laws may be repealed at any time. me
island forests contain many woods capable
Of infinite use in cabinet and interior work.
at least seventeen dye woods. rubber and
xutta percha trees. and varieties of trees
estimated by the author that these forests
cover 40.000.0O0 of the 6SOOO,OOO acres of
public land.
Attempts at coal mining In many years
have met with little success Various
islands. says Mr.. Eddy, contain deposits
'At one time Sp ain gave contract to
miner in Cebu to supply gunboats and
tramway was laid from the mines to the
coast Inc SClom6 IdlleQ, OcC6uS0, dS was
said the miner could not make prompt de-
liveries. company in southern Luzon
started of with such flourish that it's
stockholders received bids of 20 per cent
premium on their investment Then 1t de-
veloped that the pits were shallow and
work was abandoned. the company not
thinking it worth while to remove strata
of shale and limestone which are yet sup
posed to cover q rich coal vein." Mindoro,
Negroes. Masbate. Mindanao and Batan are
all said to contain fine deposits.
Gold, copper. iron. marble. sulphur and
petroleum are all found. Whether the gold
deposits can be worked proftabiy has
not yet been determined. OF the other
commodities 'sit IL probably safe to say
that much more money had been spent In
exploiting than mines have yielded On
ciai greed or opposition, the difficulty of
obtaining labor and inadequate means of
reaching the market are given as the ex-
PLANTATION.
Transports and Commerce.
In conclusion. Mr.. Eddy considers ths
charge that the goyernmenf transports ara
retarding the growth Of Philippine ship
ping.
Since insular development implies COM
mercaaa gr0wth. prospects for shipping
hook we'll he sayA much oS the COM