Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-09
AMERICA i'm THE PHILIPPINES
TX-Great Agricultural Resources
By Frederic j. HaSkin

, the warmest climate in the ISLANDS.
The plant hourishes in humid ana
hot atmosphere. The old fashioned
method was to devote little cultivation
TO hemp growing, and In the slipshod
Spanish days many families owning
large holdings drew good incomes from
hemp lands where rival vegetation and
hungry wild hogs did what they could
to destroy the crop. 1t is pointed out
by the insular bureau of agriculture
that, like other crops, hemp should
be planted in prepared soil, fenced and
given attention. A few years ago ex-
pert agricuturists employed by the
government made estimates as to net
returns from hemp plantations, but
the recent slump knocked out all cal
Culations for the present. Philippine
hemp is usually cut with the bolo,
which is at once the native chief i'm
pement of industry and instrument of
! war
Sugar is the second crop in the Phil
ippines hemp ranking first and tobac-
co third in Importance. Enough sugar
is produced in the islands to meet the
home demand, but refined sugar Is
imported because of a lack of refin-
cries. A years exports of unretlned
sugar have run to $5,000,000. There Is
no centrifugal sugar making In the
islands The cooking is done by the
| Olu ldSulOllGu OptIl htlllb pldlls IIb
crude product is put into bags made of
cane stalks and exported chiefly to
| Hong Kong. The Philippines were
made a sugar country by the Crimean
war, as Bombay became a cotton port
because of the blockade incident to the
| Civil War. The price of sugar during
| the Crimean war suggested the possi-
bility of its being grown prohtably in
| tie Philippines.
In Hawaii mill "patsf Capa
at the rate of thirty truck loads min
| ute, and so crushes 1t that ii is I'M
medately usable as fuel. In the Phil
| ippines cane is fed into the old fash
| ioned mill by hand, one stalk at a time.
! while a carabao saunters leisureiY
along hitched to the end of a pole that
| causes the rollers to reVolve. With
| the American demand for sugar in
creasing at the rate Of 100000 tons a
year, the Philippines will have an op-
portunitY. when modern methods of
production are introduced to help sup
ply this market. But the present
| archaic mills, the absence of refneries
and the impoverished condition Of the
| owners Of the old sugar estates pre-
vents the islands from figuring promi
nently as sugar producers at present.
In Manila good cigars made from
| Philippine tobacco may be bought for
the equivalent of cents In United
States currency. Tobacco growing has
been one OF the major industries OF
the islands since Cortez invaded Mex
| leo. In the sixteenth century tobacco
from the Philippines was introduced
into China, where 1t became so popu-
| lar and overindulgence so common
| that the Chinese throne forbade its
sale upon penalty of death. Unlike
other features of the industrial devel
opment of the Philippines, the Manila
t. bacco manufactures are modern in
equipment. From 1871 until 1882 to-
bacco was a government monopoly
from which Spain enjoyed a large rev.
enue.
During the last year of the monop-
oily the government sold tobacco In
Manila at $112, Mexican, per 100 pounds.
the Mexican dollar then being worth
al out 95 cents gold. In other words
tobacco sold at wholesale in the coun-
try that produced 1t for more than 81
a pound. The land was considered
the property of the state. and any ma
tive who wished to farm II was COM
PEELED to raise a certain amount of to-
bacco and deliver it to the representa-
tive of the Spanish crown. He was
not allowed to reserve any of his to-
bacco for his personal use. and his
house was at all times open to search
Now and then an infuriated farmer bo-
loed a carbineer who insulted his wife
or daughter under the pretense Of
searching her for concealed tobacco.
The farmer was usually garroted.
After selecting the best leaves, the
government burned all that did not
come up to requirements. To gauge
the hardship put upon the farmers by
burning the tobacco for which the gov
ernment did not wish to pay the stip-
ulated price. it is only necessary to
reflect that tobacco is so much a neces- 4
sitv to Fllipinos that the prisoners III
Bilibid. both men and women, are now
allowed a certain number of cigarettes
a day at government expense. 1t Is
estimated by the Philippine commits
sion that the islands now produce a
sufficient amount of tobacco to sup
ply the natural increase in the Amerl-
can demand for five months if a years
crop were shipped to the American
market Under improved cultivation
this crop might be materially ex-
panded. although good tobacco land,
like that for growing hemp and sugar,
is limited.
: Tomorrow: America in the Philippines-X
Unsurpassed Forest Wealth.
, | = I,ot u,