Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-03-05
PHILIPPINE
rs Viewed by an Expert of
the Government.

That the agricultural and forest re-
sources of the Philippines have promise
of great value has been frequently
stated, but never has more specific evil
dence been furnished than that con-
tanned in a letter addressed recently to
the secretary of agriculture by David
6. F%airchild, an agricultural explor-
err" attached to the department of ag-
riculture, says the Washington Star.
Reviewing the agricultural prospects
of the islands, Mr.. Fairchild says:
"The cultivation of tea is a possibility,
but the profits will depend largely on
the price of labor, which has been grad
ually rising since the American occu-
patton of the islands. Coffee of a re-
puted excellent quality was once
grown in the islands, but the trees were
destroyed by an insect pest, of which
DR.. Garci informs me, the life history
has been, at least in part, studied out.
Good grades of cotton have been pro-
duced and the culture of Sea Island and
Egyptian varieties has been suggested
as likely to yield profitable returns and
form an article of export. It is prob
able that some of the many islands
possess a climate especially suited for
cotton culture. The small island of
Lombok, in the Dutch East Indies, it is
said, grows a good quality of cotton for
export, and its culture is entirely in the
hands of the natives.
1.-THE Manila hemp industry is still a
monopoly, although the plant grows
wellin other tropical regions and could
be easily cultivated in the Straits Set
Elements, according to DR.. Ridley of
the Botanic gardens of Singapore. Ac-
cording to information furnished by
n of the largest hemp exporters in
Manila the methods of culture are those
practiced with any semi-wild plant, it
being grown over a large area of forest
land, especially in the regions about
Albay. The problem of increased pro.
duction is not the cultivation of more
hemp plants to a given area. but the
invention of a machine of large ca
pacity for extracting the fiber. With
the old hand machines, which require
only three men to operate them and
are carried on the heads of the opera.
tors into the forests of the hemp plant
the extraction is done so slowly that
for every stalk that is cut and stripped
into Htor ~ la,ct Ern o,a La - lae.-
In the field.
"The manager of n of the larges1
tobacco factories, for which Manila
is famous, asserted that the quality
of the leaf received from the native
growers was inferior to what it hat
been 20 years ago, and, although il
was well known that the original seeC
was imported from Havana, no late
importations of good tobacco seet
from Cuba had been made. The dis
tribution by the government of
large quantity of the best Cuban ant
Sumatra seed is an experiment wei
worth making and the careful selec
ton of the seed from the best Ma
hila-grown strains is a matter o.
prime Importance, considering TIL
very large dividends paid by the Su
matra companies out of sales mad,
principally in America and the posi-
bility of there being produced in tn
Philippines a cigar wrapper equal t.
the famous Samaritan.
There is a great variety of native
made fabrics which are most di
aphanous in nature. These are wove1
in plain but pretty patterns, and ar
so universally wor by the native
of ever the poorest classes that the,
give the market scenes an appear
ance of neatness and bright colo,
not met with elsewhere in the east
These fabrics are made from the Ma
Mia hemp fiber and that of the ma
tive pineapple, and are often sho
with threads of bright-colored silk.
Though of a harsh texture an,
Objectionable when worn next tn
skin, they are easily washed an,
starched, and are of great durability
The Chinese of Singapore are said t
pay big prices FOR this pineappl
cloth, of which they make their loos
comfortable jackets. Tt is possibl
that improved machinery and an il
creasing Chinese demand may max
the manufacture of these Manila fax
RIGS a paying industry. As yet tn
fiber of the pine is obtained chief,
by means of primitive machine
worked by hand.
"The prospects for rubber cultiva
ton are as yet uneXplored. Their
may be localities where the Par
rubber trees a be grown and wi.
yield paying amounts of rubber. bu
the occurrence of a pronounced DIR
season on most of the islands vii
probably reduce the flow, as it doe
in Ceylon, below the point of profit
able cultivation. An early survey o
the islands with this in view Shout
be made and experimental groves Sc
out if necessary. The employment
of an expert acquainted with rnbbe
cultivation might save the colon
much time and money, as he coul
point out the regions in which tn
rubber trees would be most likely t
succeed"
An Average Temperature.
--.lz-4 A. Al. -