The Inhabitants of the Philippines Part 20

This is set edgeways in a slot in the shaft. On each side of the trestle near the ground is a treadle; from one of these a cotton cord pa.s.ses over the shaft taking a round turn and is made fast to the other treadle. The operator sits astride the trestle with a foot on each treadle. By working them alternately he produces a rapid revolution of the shaft in alternate directions, and the cutting disc being double-edged it cuts both ways. By holding a half nut against the revolving cutter he in a few seconds rasps out every particle of the nut which falls upon a tray in fine shreds.

The shredded material is then heated in a cast-iron pan over a slow fire, and whilst hot is filled into bags of strong material which are placed in the press.

This is constructed entirely of hard wood, and the pressure is obtained by driving wedges with a heavy mallet.

The system is primitive, but all the apparatus is practical and very cheap.

D. Carlos Almeida of Binan stated to me in 1890 that 400 large cocoa-nuts gave by this process one tinaja or jar of oil, equivalent to 10 English gallons, which was then worth on the spot six Mexican dollars. It is sold in Manila. At this time cocoa-nuts were sold in Santa Cruz, the capital of the Laguna, for about $15 per thousand. The oil cake was used either to feed pigs or as a manure about the roots of coffee-plants. The owner of cocoa-palm groves in Luzon or Visayas lives in anxiety during several months of each year, for should the vortex of a typhoon pa.s.s over or near his plantation, a large proportion of his trees may be destroyed.

The true locality for such plantations is in the southern and western parts of Mindanao and Palawan, to the south of a line drawn from the northern point of Mindanao to Busuanga Island in the Calamianes, preferring the most sheltered spots.

In this region the danger from typhoons is inconsiderable, and the trees flourish exceedingly. I have been shown trees in bearing at Puerta Princesa which I was a.s.sured were only three years old. I saw older trees bearing immense bunches of nuts, too many to count, and it seemed wonderful to see a slender trunk bearing aloft sixty feet in the air so heavy a load. From fifty to one hundred trees can be planted on an acre according to the s.p.a.ce allowed to each, and when in full bearing after six or seven years each tree might give eighty nuts in a year. The crop goes on all the year round.

Copra is prepared from the nuts either by drying the whole nut under cover in the shade, allowing the water to become absorbed and then breaking up the kernel for bagging, or else by breaking it up first of all and drying it in the sun.

In the first case a large airy shed is required, and the process takes three months. In the latter case three days of sunshine will suffice, but the kernels must be protected from the dew at night and from any chance shower of rain. Artificial heat does not produce good copra, and besides is expensive to apply.

Making copra is one of the most paying enterprises in the Philippines, but it requires capital to be laid out several years beforehand, unless a plantation can be bought to start with.

Previous to 1890, the quant.i.ty of copra exported was so small that no record was kept of it. In that year 74,447 piculs were exported, and the trade has gone up by leaps and bounds, so that in 1897 no less than 811,440 piculs were sent out, over fifty thousand tons.

The present position of agriculture seems to be that there are in the Philippines somewhere about six millions of civilised Christian people tilling eight million acres of land, and exporting some thirty million dollars' worth of produce each year. They also raise a large quant.i.ty of food-stuffs for their own consumption, but import perhaps a couple of million dollars' worth of rice because it is cheaper to buy it than to grow it, as we in England import wheat for the same reason. The area of land under cultivation is computed at one-ninth of the total area of the islands.

The author of the circular Plant Products of the Philippines, to which I have before referred, makes the following remarks: "In view of the natural fertility of the soil and the vast extent of these rich lands not yet under cultivation, it is safely a.s.sumed that the total agricultural production of the islands could be increased tenfold."

This gentleman seems to be of a sanguine disposition, and he reminds me rather of Oscar F. Williams' cheerful optimism. But in one way he is more cautious than that gentleman. He does not fix a time for his prophecy to be accomplished.

I would point out, however, that in the seventy-five million acres comprised in the islands there are volcanic cones, peaks of basalt, stony plains, unexplored regions, swamps and other undesirable localities for establishing farms or plantations, and that some of the good lands are held by warlike tribes who would resent any intrusion into their domains.

There are, it is true, great tracts of land in Mindanao and Palawan, and no doubt in time they will come under cultivation.

Taking everything into consideration, I hold to my view that with peace, honest government and a good Vagrancy law, the export of produce might be doubled in twenty years if capital is forthcoming in sufficient amount. The land is worth nothing without the husbandmen, and it will take the Philippines a long time to recover from the devastating effects of the insurrection of 1896-7 and the American war of subjugation.

CHAPTER XV.

FORESTAL.

Value exaggerated--Difficulties of labour and transport--Special sawing machinery required--Market for timber in the islands--Teak not found--Jungle produce--Warning to investors in companies--Gutta percha.

During the three and a quarter centuries the Spaniards have held the Philippines, the forests of Luzon have supplied enormous quant.i.ties of the finest timber for building houses, churches, convents, bridges, warships, lighters and canoes. No care has ever been taken to replant, and the consequence is that at this day long logs of many kinds most wanted are not obtainable, all the large trees of valuable timber have long ago been cut, and only in the most distant and least accessible places are any worth having to be found.

The greatest nonsense is talked about the value of the Philippine forests, but in fact it is only in the fever-stricken Island of Mindoro, and in certain parts of Palawan and Mindanao, that any large and valuable trees can be found.

Labour is a great difficulty; wood-cutters are scarce, and they are a wild, unruly lot; only men inured to such a rough life can resist the malaria of the woods, and even they are occasionally down with fever.

Chinamen would not venture into the forests, and only the natives of each district are available, as they do not care to go far from their houses. In order to engage them it is necessary to make them advances of money which it will seldom be possible to recover. A good deal of tact is required in dealing with the cutters, they are very independent and will not put up with abuse. A considerable capital is required to give advances to, and feed these men, also for buying buffaloes, which die unless good care is taken of them.

If a cutter can be found who has buffaloes of his own, it is better to hire them with him, as then they are sure to be taken care of.

The dragging the large logs to a river or port can only be done by teams of buffaloes. The conditions prevailing prevent the employment of chutes, wire ropes and winding engines, or tram-lines.

The valuable trees do not grow together in numbers as in the forests of California and Oregon, but are found at considerable distances from each other. It is therefore only possible to commence the use of mechanical conveyance at the spot where the logs can be a.s.sembled by animal labour. Even so, the number of logs from any district will be so small that it will hardly pay to lay down a tramway.

The logs are squared in the woods and the b.u.t.t ends are rounded like the runners of a sleigh, two holes are chopped at the top corners with a small adze called a palacol, through which rattans are pa.s.sed for the buffaloes to be yoked to. They are then dragged down to the river or sea. The wood is too heavy to float, and bundles of bamboos are attached to it to give it buoyancy.

The idea of putting up saw-mills in the forests is absurd--for the reason given above.

The wood is very hard and tough, and specially made machinery is required to work it.

The framing must be heavier, the feed lighter, and the teeth of the saws much smaller and with less set. I have had some excellent machinery and saws specially made in England for this purpose, by Thomas Robinson & Son of Rochdale, but I sent home logs of the woods required to be worked, for the saws, planers, and moulding cutters to be made to suit. The ordinary sawing machinery as shown in trade catalogues would be of no use at all.

The whole business is extremely risky, it requires a manager, immune to jungle fever, a man of great vigour yet patient and tactful. Such a man, understanding the native ways, would probably succeed after years of hard and dangerous work; but I warn any one thinking of taking up this business that in Luzon valuable trees are few and far between, and distant from port or river, whilst in other islands where there are timber trees they stand there because no one could ever be induced to go and cut them.

As for exporting these timbers to the United States or other places, there is no need to do that, for demand for timber in Manila and other towns is greater than the supply, and iron construction is increasing in consequence.

Oregon or Norway pine is of no use for building purposes in the Philippines, for it would be devoured within a year or two by the anay (white ants). I am told, however, that in spite of warnings the United States military authorities have constructed stables and storehouses of this timber.

I think it quite useless to mention the names of the different Philippine timbers, as those who take an interest in them can purchase the 'Manual de Maderero' (Wood-cutters' Manual) and obtain all the information they require from it.

Molave is the most important, being proof against the white ants, and almost imperishable. Ypil and yacal are splendid woods for large roofs. They can be obtained long enough for tie-beams, even for wide spans, and excellent roof-frames can be made by bolting them together.

On the Zambales mountains and in Benguet and Lepanto there are forests of coniferae. When the Manila-Dagupan Railway was being built, I had some sample sleepers brought down from thence. They were quite suitable, but could only be used if thoroughly creosoted, as otherwise they would merely provide food for the white ants. As there are no gasworks in the Islands, creosote could not be produced, nor would it pay to import it from Hong Kong or elsewhere on account of the freight and duties.

There is no market in the islands for pine and no one cuts the trees. They are not of great size. The Igorrotes burn them to clear the land for planting.

True ebony is not found in the forests, but a very handsome and heavy wood, called Camagon, is the nearest approach to it, being dark-brown nearly black, streaked with bright yellow. It is found of larger size than ebony and is sold by the pound.

Teak has often been reported to exist and samples of the alleged teak have been shown to me. On comparing them with teak from Rangoon a considerable difference was noted and the characteristic odour was absent. My own impression is that there is no teak in the Philippines. I have paid two dollars a cubic foot for teak in Manila and if there was any to be had, this price would, I think, have fetched it out.

As for such jungle produce as gum-damar, canes, and rattans, if the reader will refer to my remarks on Palawan he will see that the most valuable products are mostly worked out, and that in any case this is not white man's business.

There is, however, one branch that, in view of increasing scarcity and rising price, should be carefully looked after by the Philippine Administration; I refer to the collection of gutta-percha in Mindanao. This caused quite a boom for a short time, but as usual the Chinamen got hold of the stuff and mixed it with various kinds of rubbish, so that it was soon discredited in the European market.

An official of high-standing might be appointed to the double office of Protector of the Natives, and Conservator of the Forests in Mindanao, and rules for collecting the gutta without destroying the trees should be prepared and enforced by personal visits from the conservator and his deputies, to whom all the gutta should be handed, being paid for in cash. This would probably yield a large revenue to the Government and greatly benefit the natives, for they might receive half the value of the gutta instead of the minute fraction the Chinese now give them.

The reader who has perused the previous remarks will no longer be liable to be caught by tales of the fabulous riches of the Philippine forests. And, above all, he should keep clear of any companies that may be formed to exploit them. Energetic and tactful individuals may succeed, but the success will be due to personal qualities, and will be contemporaneous with that gifted party and disappear with him. This is what happened to the "Laguimanoc Saw Mills and Timber Company"

as soon as the founder left.

A large proportion of the jungle produce of Mindanao, Palawan, and the smaller Southern Islands is smuggled away by the Chinese traders to Sandakan or Singapore.

All that appears in the Table of Exports is two or three hundred tons of gum copal shipped each year from Manila.