The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-04-10
Copyright, 1906, by Joseph b. Bowles
Copyright in Great Britain
All Rights ReSerVed.)

Singapore, January p, 1905
While Il deep interest in the political
problems te1npts me to deal at once
with the policy to be pursued by IA
government with spe to the Fill
pinos. [ am constrained to proceed
logically II discuss first the islands
and their people. And in speaking of
the Filipinos, a distinction should be
made between those who inhabit the
northern Islands and are members OF
one branch Of the Christian church
and those who inhabit the island Of
NlindInao and the Sulu archipelago
people Who are followers of MOham-
ned. While a considerable number of
FiIipinoS are to be found in Mindanao
ana some in Sulu. the Sultans ana
Datus have dominated the countly
Even Spanish authority never extend
ed over the southern islands, and the
Sarrisons maintained at the seapOrts
were constantly in fear Of massacre.
Leaving the southern islands for the
next article, | shall contine myself at
present to Luzon, Panay, Negros, Cebu,
Samar and the smaller islands which
make up the ViSayan group. These
Islands contain the bulk of the terri
tory, a large majority of the people,
most Of the material wealth and prac-
tically all of the civilization of the
Philippines. Luzon, the largest of the
ShcNb' III olllloS ~ II
nineteenth parallel and is about six
degrees long. Like the islands of
Japan, 1t IS mountainous n we'll wa
tered. The other islands of the group
are considerably smaller and extend as
far south as the ninth parallel. They,
too, are mountainous, but the valleys
are fertile and uppOr a large popula-
ton. The principal industry is agri-
culture, and the soil produces q va
r1ety Of cereals, fruits and vegetables.
Rice, as in other oriental countries,
is the chief article or food. though
hemp is by far the largest export. The
hemp plant looks So much like the
banana that the traveller can scarcely
distinguish etWeen them. Sugar cane
is also grown in many parts of the
islands, and would be cultivated still
more largely but for the low price of
raw g. Sugar, however. cannot be
raised here with the same profit that
1t can in Hawaii and Cuba, owing to
the fact that it must be repIanted more
frequently. Tobacco of an excellent
quality is produced on several of the
islands sufficient to supply the home
demand (and nearly all FilipinOS use
toDaccO) and leave a surplus for eX-
port. The is q staple prod
uct here of great value and its Guilt
walton a be indefinitely extended.
OF all the crops it probably yields the
vi bIAS III CO bUl
as the trees do not begin to bear until
they are about eight years old. they
are only cultivated in small groves or
by those who can afford to wait for
returns. Copra, the dried meat of the
c~ocoanut. is now exported to the value
or SZ,50O,000, but systematic effort
ought to very largely increase this ex-
port.
The methods of cultivation and the
implements nSp6 n 70 NOT nc D1o3a.,, 80
n would expect. The carabou. or wa
ter buffalo, is the one all farm
animal. CarabOus are something like
the American OK, but are more heavily
built; they are uniform in c0lor-a
dark drab-and have heavy. fiat
horns. which grow back instead of
forward.
The agricultural situation in The
islands is at present most DISTRESSING.
The fields were devastated by war, and
before labor could restore what the
soldiers a destroyed rinderpest at
tackled the carabOus and in some
places carried away as many as 80
per cent of the animals. We visited
q sugar plantation which had lost
more than half of its carabous dur
ing the two weeks preceding. Every
WhGre one sees fields Overgrown with
grass which cannot be cultivated for
. lack of pillow animals. One can UNDER
tand something of the rinderpest ca
lillIty when it is remembered that
these patient beasts do all the blowing
and all the hauling in the Philippine
islands. We often saw them ridden,
sometimes bearing two persons. In
addition to the 'raVages of disease-and
the ruin wrought by arms, the Fill
Pine farmer has suffered from the
closing of his market. When the Uni
ted states authority was substituted
for Spanish rule, the T%ilipinos lost the
advantage which they had previously