PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
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slippers, mats and other articles, the fibre has been tried with excellent results. Within the last few years a very important use for the fibre has been found in the manufacture of hats. In 1923, the area planted to abaca was 513,420 hectares, and the production was 188,888,535 kilos, valued at P39,317,490.
Coconut palms are grown extensively in the Philippine Islands. During the fiscal year 1923. the total area planted to coconuts was 456,440 hectares, with 86,707,380 trees, yielding a total production of 368,130,812 kilos of copra, valued at P51,959,640.
Tobacco can be grown in practically all sections of the Philippines. The best and choicest class is raised in the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela in northern Luzon and in Cotabuto, Mindanao. In 1923, 64,730 hectares were under cultivation and 32,805,820 kilos of leaf tobacco were produced, valued at P6,814,800.
Sugar-cane thrives well, principally in the island of Negros. The most note- worthy feature or sugar cane growing and sugar manufacturing is the increase in the number of sugar centrals during recent years. The area now devoted to the cultivation of sugar-cane is 227,290 hectares. The extension of the cultivated area and the introduction of tractors and other farm machinery of good varieties, use of fertili- zers and proper culture have largely brought about the increase in production.
Among the other crops with great agricultural possibilities are maguey, sisal, corn, coffee, rubber, kapok, cacao, cassava, peanut, vegetables and fruits. Cattle-raising as an agricultural pursuit is also very promising. The estimated total number of cattle in the Philippines, excluding Manila, is 831,934 head.
The rural credit movement is progressing every year, there being 547 associations incorporated, with over 77,479 shareholders. The loans total P2,605,043.47 distributed among 26,945 borrowers. Of this sum P872,668 is share capital; the balance is loans from the Rice and Corn Fund, Philippine National Bank, deposits and undistributed dividends. This movement is expected to lead to other co-operative undertakings such as Co-operative Bonded Warehouses, Co-operative Industrial Associations and Co-operative Central Banks.
Gold and coal are still the two leading mineral products of the islands. In quartz mining, the Benguet and Masbate districts have been consistent producers for a number of years. In the dredging field new operations have recently begun in the Lianga district of eastern Mindanao, in addition to the well known Paracale district. The native furnaces of Bulacan continue to be the only source of iron production. Other metallic deposits worthy of consideration are the copper of Mancayan and Suyoc; iron of Surigao and Calambayanga Island; manganese of Ilocos Norte and Masbate; lead and zinc of Masbate and Marinduque, and platinum of Mindanao.
Coal is being produced from Cebu, Mindanao and Batan. A cement plant was completed in Cebu in 1923 by a company subsidized by the Philippine Government. This plant is now functioning. Exploratory drilling for petroleum in Bondoc Peninsula encountered slight indications of petroleum and natural gas but the quantity is not sufficient for commercial exploitation. Several geological exploration leases for petroleum have also been taken up in Leyte and other places. Other non-metallic deposits that have been undergoing development are the bituminous rock of Leyte, asbestos of Ilocos Norte, and the guano and phosphate rock deposits of Capiz, Pangasinan, Mindoru, Tayabas and several other provinces.
FORESTS
Timber forests are found in all the principal islands of the archipelago, covering an area of about 76,000 sq. miles, or 67 per cent. of the total area.
Not less than
65,000 sq. miles are commercial forests. These forests contain some of the finest timber in the world, especially for cabinet work. Many species of the Dipterocarp family are used as substitute for mahogany and are sold in foreign markets as Philippine mahogany. Minor forest products such as rattan, oils, copal gum, tanbark, dyebark, and dyewood are abundant.
The Government owns more than 99 per cent. of all the standing timber of the Philippines, and the Bureau of Forestry has control over them. The public forests are not sold, but are developed under a license system. To-day there are 74 steam sawmills, which are equipped with modern machinery fit to meet the big lumber enterprise of the Islands. A comprehensive exhibit of woods and other forest products are on display at the Bureau of Forestry, 244, Juan Luna Binondo.
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