CHAPTER VII PRODUCTS OF THE ISLANDS Progress Possible through Soil-Agriculture a Science THE HE principal resources of the Philippine archipelago are in her soil. The more attention is given to the development of her agricultural products, the quicker and the greater will be her progress. The chief crops are hemp, rice, sugar, copra and coffee. Copra is dried cocoanut from which oil is extracted. Other products are maize, sweet potatoes, potatoes and cacao. The latter supplies the place taken by tea or coffee among Americans. Castor oil, betel-nut and areca-nut are also in common use among the people. Among the fruits there may be mentioned: the banana, mango, orange, custard apple, chico, lanzones, jack-fruit, bread-fruit, guava, mangosteen, pineapple and tamarind. To aid the Filipinos in their efforts to get the most out of their land, an Insular Bureau of Agriculture has been established. This Bureau includes in its work investigations and the dissemination of useful information with reference to the agricultural resources of the islands, the methods of cultivation at present in vogue and their improvement, the practicability of introducing new and valuable agricultural products, the introduction of new domesticated animals and the improvement of the breeds of domestic animals now found in the inlands; and, in general, the promotion and development of the agricultural resources of the archipelago. The Bureau has charge of two Government farms and has several agricultural experiment stations. The work now provided for in this Bureau follows practically the plan of the Department of Agriculture in the United States, and includes the introduction of valuable seeds and plants; distribution of the same; investigation of the soils of the islands, including mapping of tobacco, hemp, sugar, rice, cocoanut, fruit and vegetable soils of the archipelago; investigation of curing tobacco and originating, through selection or breeding, improved varieties of the staple agricultural products; carrying on an investigation of grasses, forage plants and animal foods, and devising methods for improving the forage supply of the islands; investigating the medicinal, poisonous, fiber and other economic plants; studying the history and habits of injurious and beneficial insects, the diseases of plants and methods of preventing them; improving existing breeds of domestic animals, and investigating of various lines of work involved in animal industries. The work is therefore organized upon broad lines. In giving an outline of the work of this Bureau, its Chief, Professor F. Lamson-Scribner, said recently: "There is no more important work, so far as it affects the well-being of the people of the islands, than that which pertains to agriculture; and nothing can more effectively bring about peace and prosperity and increase wealth in these islands than the encouragement and promotion of the agricultural industries by the introduction EXPERIMENTS OF THE BUREAU 87 of modern methods, improved agricultural machinery and the enlightenment of the people concerning the immense agricultural resources possible in these islands under the intelligent application of modern systems of farming and fruit growing. No better soils are to be found anywhere in the world than exist here, and, under the climate of the Philippines, perpetual growth may be maintained. By irrigation, and nearly all lands are irrigable, with abundant water supply, farming lands need never be idle, but one crop may succeed another in rapid succession throughout the entire year. "The cattle industries have been successfully followed in many of the provinces and, although serious loss has at times been experienced by the ravages of disease, happily preventive measures are being discovered for checking these losses, and the outlook for improving the domestic breeds of cattle and horses by introducing better stock from other countries is very bright. This line of work is receiving the most careful consideration, and steps have already been taken along the lines here indicated. The general cattleman would find here grand opportunities, for there are in certain sections of Luzon and some of the other islands immense tracts of country especially suited to grazing. In Nueva Vizcaya Province are many thousands of acres covered with fine nutritious grass now wholly unoccupied. No better grazing lands exist anywhere, and the grass now covering these prairies and hillsides is as fine and tender, and doubtless as valuable, as the choicest New England hay." The Bureau is also experimenting with coffee, India rubber, gutta percha and other tropical products, importing animals for the purpose of improving size, speed, |