The San Francisco call., 1907-01-13

Ine great capltai needed for tobacco or
timber
Even without modern methods the
industry pays big profits Governor
PiemonteI OF Ar.bos Camarines Prov
ince started up from the absolute slav-
cry Of ignorance and won independence
and wealth through hemp. AS boy
Governor Piemontel could speak no IAN
guage except his meager dialect He
could not write. His parents, OF Fill
pino extraction. were poor and in DEBT
He made little hemp ranch IN the
hills. For seven years he worked on
the plantation without leaving its lin
it's. He planted. cut and stripped the
hemp himself He vent 1t TO market
Soon he was out of debt, then prosper
Gus, then wealthy. He studied, went TO
Europe. His sons received the best ed
ucation that London and Paris could
afford.
A hemp plantation begins to pay at
the end of two or three years. me
Manila hemp plant in appearance -
very much like small banana tree, re-
curing little care after once being es-
tablished. Sossuperior is the abaca, or
Manila hemp, that If the production
were doubled it is believed the mar
ket price would not greatly decrease
What is needed is a machine TO Sepa-
rate the strands from the feshy fiber
of the stalk, this work now being done
by hand. Some day a Yankee will in
vent one.
Tie railroads proposed to run from
Manila south into Luzon peninsula viii
tap one Of the densest forests OF the
Philippines. If there is anything in the
Philippines that has never been fully
appreciated, it is their wonderful for
ests. Either from the viewpoint OF
the artist and nature-lOver, or the capt-
taIist and lumber-m man, they probably
excel the hardwood forests Of any other
portion Of the world covering an equal
area. often have I walked for miles in
the still twilight cast by giant hard
woods seemingly almost as large as the
redwoods of the Pacific Coast over a.
carpet OF clean, dry mould clear Of
underbrush. The trunks rise UP, enor-
nous columns, for a distance OF some
times eighty to 100 feet before a branch
begins Then these giants spread their
glorious crowns into a perfect forest
of branches The forests are not found
in single stands OF any one tree. as
redwoods. pines and frs are found
growing in the United States The spe-
cies are intermixed. Some of the tim
Der stands will measure up in mer-
chantable timber with the redwood for
ests Of California, and far exceed in
board measure per acre the great
est known yields OF American pine
At DalupaOn. in Southern LuzOn. I
stopped for three weeks in the vast
timber cuttings that are operated un=
der the direction of John Orr one of
the best-posted men on practical lum-
bering in the islands. Mr.. Orr has
had an interesting history. He brought
his people-the 100 families that live
on the cuttings-untOuche through the
war. famine and cholera that ragged in
Ambos Camarines province during the
insurrection- When the cholera ap-
peared Orr stationed sentries at each OF
the three trails leading into Dalupaon-
Those desirous of entering the COM
munity were obliged TO remain in quar-
antine quarters in the forest for a
week There was not a case Of cholera
in Dalupaon. though il was particu-
larly vicious elsewhere in the province.
And Orr kept sending logs to Manila
during this time
Vast Timber Lands
But back to the forests. The For
estry Bureau estimates that there are
4O.0O0O 900 acres OF timber land in the
islands. The annual decay of the for
ests is estimated at one billion four
hundred million cubic feet, three times
the cut timber in the entire United
states for 1900. Fully 90 per cent OF
this annual growth is going to waste
The finest merchantable forests are
perhaps to be found in the southern
Luzon peninsula. the islands Of Min
dora and Negros, and the island of
Mindanao. On Mindanao alone there
are ten million acres OF virgin forest.
In Cagayan province of northern Luzon
are two million acres Practically all
of the commercial woods of the Philip
pines are hardwoOds. The only notable
exceptions are the huge calentas or
Philippine cedar, found almost every
where, and the pines that grow on the
mountain slopes of Benguet and north
ern Luzon and like regions. The spe-
cific gravity of these hardwoods is so
dense that most of them even when
dried will sink in salt water like so
much lead. The woods are found in
superb natural coiorings, golden straw
color, yellow, claret red, ebony black
mahogany brown, and chestnut. In
old mansions in the Philippines YOU
find floors glistening like plate glass
mirrors with giant planks OF various
woods alternating as to color. They
lend themselves to the most exquisite
carvings and decorative work, and ara
priced by the Chinese like so much
silver. There are many woods pecu-
liarly suited to general construction
purposes and shipbui1ding. With mod
ern methods of logging and modern
machinery the forests of the Philin-
pines will make Monte Cristos OF the
needed lumbermen. OF the eight steam
saw mills in Manila, the only mills Of
the best type. equipped with band saws
and other modern machinery, are three
mills owned by Americans.
1t is as difficult to describe the Philip-
pines in a Sunday magazine article as
it would be to describe the United
States. Perhaps no region OF similar
area possesses such remarkable and
delightful diversity OF scenery. The
resources of the vast continent have
been compressed. as il were. within
limits that are less than those Of either
Texas or California. The climate or
the Philippines. too affords strong con-
trasts. Though the Philippines are
often said to be "all in the tropics"
still there Is the cool sparkling air in
the mountain valleys and elevated
grassy plateaus. where one requires
two blankets at night. and sometimes
three; there are the rlist-elad SUBMITS
of the mountain tops; the dry heat OF
the vast pampas the pleasant ocean
breezes OF the coast; the tepid moisture