Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-05-01
A Weekly Letter From the Orient
FURNISHED BY THE RECORDER sSpaC-
IAL CORRESPONDENT, Who Is
MAKING A TOUR OF THE EAST
ERN COUNTRIES.
Especial to Recorder.)

an industrial way, in the Philip
pines, and perhaps the most stu
| pendous task ever accomplished by
! a thoroughly savage race, is to be
found in the marvellous rice terra
ces in the mountains OF central
and northern Luzon island. Here
| hAe ieorrotes have built terraces
for the growing of rice. like the
giant steps up the steep mountain
sides of canyons to height of
| three thousand feet or more. These
terraces, each of which is flooded
with water at certain seasons of
the year, are wonderful feats of en-
| gineering; sometimes they follow
the contour of the canyons for a
distance OF half mile without var
wing two inches from dead level.
| The summit of the retaining wall
of each terrace is so arranged as to
be about fifteen inches above water
evel, and at times Of flooding, it is
found that this condition is invarl-
ably complied with.
1
The Igorrotes are the most re-
markable of all the pagan races of
the Philippines. Perhaps no peo-
pie, either savage or civilized. have
ever further developed the art OF
intensive cultivation 4of the soil.
| None. so far as now known, have
ever progressed as far in the meth
DDS of irrigation as many of Igor
rote communities. In these re-
gions the lgorroted run the stream
lets which have been DETECTED foY
irrigation, through mass of ma
nure, decaying vegetable loan,
ashes black alluyial soil and then
conduct it to their rice paddles, as
the successive tops of the rice ter
races are called. They thus ferti-
lie aud irrigate the land in one
operation, since the water thus en-
ricbed, carsies with itself the fer
tiliziug elements. and by force of
gravity distributes them evenly
! wherever it comes in contact with
the soil. This is a decided advance
over methods i'll use in many OF
the civilized countries, where the
fertilizer is first laborouslY distlib-
uted over the soil and then most
of it washed away when the irrl-
eating water is turned on,
In some places the lgorrotes
have circled mountains a thousand
feet or more in height with success
sive terraces, each terrace going
completely around the mountain.
Often, too, these terraces are built
up from the soil but are carved
1 out of solid rock on which the soil
| is afterwards placed. The terraces
are an inspiring sight. Viewed in
connection with the primitive con-
dition of The people, there is moth
ing like them in the world. The
pyramid of Cheops, or the tallest
"skv scraper' of New York would
appear insignificant beside these
clear cus, Iierculean achievements
Of the simple, ancestor worship
ping Igorrotes. Some may com
pare the terraces Of the lgorroteS
with the terraces Of Japan, but Ill
neither size, perfection OF work
mar s ip, nor the overcomal1 4
obstacles can the work in Japan
compare with these.
The men who built these terra.
ices, the head hunting lgorrotes
were probably weak and tlmid
race when driven to the mountains
by the sea.going Malay races Of
centuries ago, but to-day they are
a strong, physically developed peo'
pie, and though kind hearted and
pleasant to foreigners, are fierce il
their wars upon adjacent tribes
The villages of these Igorrotes ART
surrounded by the terraces, and the
Weld is so abundant that in case OF
siege the villagers are p'entifully
provisioned from the rice.
The remarkable advance made
, by theso Igorrotes indicates that II
80 ,,;tb;n tho oowpr of the MalHys