The National tribune., 1901-05-02
TOBACCO IN PHILIPPINES.
Crude Methods Employed at Present, But
Industry Returns Large Profits.

One of the most important and paying
industries of the Philippines is the tobac-
co industry. The valley of the Cagayan,
on Luz0n Island, is probably one of the
richest sections in the country for the
growing of tobacco. Here immense crops
of some of the best brands are produced
every year in such vast quantities that
the proprietors cannot possibly gather the
entire crop. Tons of good tobacco 80 to
waste every year for want of proper man.
agement. The same can be stated con-
cerning the immense tobacco crops OF
Panay, Cebu, Negros, Guimaras and the
other tobacco producing islands. There
are valleys in ali OF the islands of the
Southern group of the archipelago IN
which the tobacco plant thrives.
The plowing and breaking of the.
soil for the crop begins usually in Octo-
ber. The plows used are pieces of wood
cut from a tree, the shape of which is
like a plow. The cattle or carabao of
the islands are attached to this imple-
ment. and the soil is gradually broken.
have seen as much as $50 gold paid for
a good plow worth SO in America.
After the natives plough the lands they
spend great amount of time breaking
the pieces of earth into proper fneness
by using sticks, their feet and form OF
dragging device made with series of bam-
boo points. An American harrow would
accomplish more in day than a dozen
natives with their crude methods can do
in Il week or more.
The crop is put in in January. or, il
the rainy season ends sooner, in Decem-
Der. After the crop is in, the natives do
little more than watch its growth and
keep the weeds out.
There are some capitalists already op-
Grating in the great tobacco lands of the
Southern islands, and all are making
money. The Filipino prOprietOrs have all
done well-many of them are exceedingly
rich. Great bales of the tobacco are an
nually sent to Spain and several other ma
tions, where good prices are obtained. The
local consumption of tobacco is very large,
as the Filipinos are all smokers. Women
and even children constantly smoke, and
the dealers in the leaf make considerable
money from the home demand.
AT some of the tobacco plantations Chi
nese help is used entirely, as being more
reliable and cheaper. They desire to save
money, and instead of going off period
keep steadily at work with the idea of
accumulating more. The Chinese are
hired at from s to 10 cents per day, and
the Filipinos are paid from 10 to u cents
per day for laboring on tobacco planta-
tiOns. The foremeD receive about 81 per
day, and the superintendent about $500
per year.
In conjunction with the growth Of to-
bacco, crops of corn are planted, and the
corn crop serves as food for the wOrkmen
of the plantation. The rivers afford some
fish, and then there is game in the hills.
There are cocoanut groves everywhere,
and there are berries and other fruits
available, so that the hOrdes of native
or Chinese workers procure large amounts
of food materials for little or nothing so
far as cost in money and labor are con-
cerned.
The Chinese workers grow rice in vast
quantities, and they often do this as a
side line. and after they have selected
what they need for themselves they make
quite bit of money by selling what re-
mains.
The process OF drying the tobacco is
carried on in peculiar manner. In rare
instances the leaves are streWn about the
earth for sun drying, but the general GUS
tom is to string the leaves on long bam-
boo sticks. Often the leaves are permit
ted to dry slowly and gradually in the
shade, as the natives believe that the
flavor is improved by this method.
In some cases they have long sheds for
the special purpose Of shade-drying the
long stickfuls of leaves. The leaves are
arranged in perfect order on the sticks,
Lhe work being done by women and girls,
as rule, who receive payment at so
much per stick and earn about seven or
eight cents per day of nine hours work.
In some parts of the islands they spread
the sticks of leaves in the sun and get a
thorough drying in that way much more
quickly.
In this country the dews often fall like
light rain. One cannot sleep outside in the
open air without a rubber ponchO. This
dew is supposed to make the tobacco leaf
richer.
The next process consists in the bund-
ling of the leaves, and this involves a
sorting process which calls for some de-
gree Of skill on the part of the sorters.
Women are hired to do this work under
the watchful eyes of overseers, who see
to it that the women who are best fitted
to test leaves as to fineness Of feel, color
and general characteristics are employed.
The texture and weight have to be con-
sidered in the leaf selection, and as many
as dozen classifcations are made by
each sorter.
The women use the feet as well as the
hands in the work, and they sit upon the
ground in such a way that they can
smooth the leaves out with the feet
Next comes the operation of baling the
bundles of leaves. There are about go
pounds for each bale, as this is a con-
yenient weight for handling in the islands
and for shipment.
The tobacco experts Of the country all
agree that the product per acre is re-
duced considerably in the Philippines
through lack of proper cultivation, care
and machinery. The native methods for
tobacco growing have always been crude.
They get about half n ton per acre, and
they should get at least a full ton per
acre with proper management.
The tObaccO-buyer in the Philippines is
really the one who has the best end Of it.
The tObacco-buyers are Spanish. Filipino
and occasionally one sees an American
They all make money, because they can
go into the wilds of the islands and buy
for very small sum from the natives who
produce good crops, but who never leave
their homes and never attempt to sell the
product themselves direct in the markets,
and they never know what the real worth
of the leaf is. Often the buyers make
200 per cent. profits on these deals. When
they buy from the regular planters, how
ever, they calculate upon paying better
value, and their profits may fall to as
low as 40 or 80 per cent.
The matter of transportation of the
crops to the markets of the country is
very different today from what it was a
ly trails through the mountains, and only
pack animals or drag sleds could be taken
through laden with tobacco. But the
Americans have had new roads built
through the hills and jungle, and it is now
possible for two and four-wheel vehicles
to be taken almost anywhere. Large lots
of the tobacco are, of course, shipped to
other countries, and the revenue is very
rich from this source. The buyers own
or have arrangements made for storage