Honolulu Republican, Volume IV, Number 492, 9 January 1902 — Native Farming in the Philippines to Be Fostered by the Agricultural Department [ARTICLE]

Native Farming in the Philippines to Be Fostered by the Agricultural Department

POSSIBLY the widest fi»ld ever opened to an officer of th • Agricultural Department has ■ been asigned to Prof. F. Lam-1 sen Scribner, at present chief] of the bureau of agrostology. On February 1 next he will sail with his family for the Philippine Islands and will there establish a complete bu- , reau of agriculture to investigate ! present agricultural conditions in The J archipelago, to disseminate knowj ledge of advanced agricultural methods and to assist in the development j to their fullest possible extent of the | practically unlimited agricultural opportunities of the islands. With agriculture in the Philippines conducted I along modern lines, it is believed the j United States can grow in its ojtn soil every vegetable product now used ; in the world. Professor Scribner's appointment j was made by the Secretary of War recently in pursuance of an act of :h- United States Philippine conimis son That legislation created, “under the Department of the Interior, an insular bureau of agriculture, which shall conduct investigations and disseminate useful information with reference to the agricultural resources of the Philippine Islands, the methods of cultivation at present in vogue and their improvement, the practilability of introducing new and valu i able agricultural products, the intro- < taction of new domesticated animals : and the improvement of the br»> ds of domesticated animals now found ! ia the islands, and shall In general i sei k to promote the development cf I the agricultural resources of the ar- • hipelago" The territorial field of the new bureau is to include “the i government farms at Magalang ia 1 the province of Pampamga, and at La i Carlota, in the province of Western I j Negros, and the government apricnl- i { tural experiment stations ; n the pro i i k nces of Iloilo. Cebu. Isab* la, P.k~ >s . j and Albay ~ ■ Unlimited ''Agricultural Possibilities. “The territory included in that as- i sienment.” said Prof Scribner re i cently. “is practically unlimited in its agricultural possibilities It will pr> < duce everything known to temp; rate < climates, 'approximately everything < known to the tropics and several ar- c | Holes of food and industrial use not t grown (n any other section of the i

United States. Just the mere enumj eratiou of the products now grown in ' the Philippines is an apparently end I less task. As an indication merely a man can devote his farm to lemons. Indian corn, cocoa, sugar, sweet potatoes. Irish potatoes. 120 kinds of rice, wheat, coffee, bananas, mangoes, tea. grapes, figs, mulberries, eucalyptus, apples, peas, cherries, peaches, apricots. berries of a thousand varieties, vegetable seeds and about anything else you happen to think of. “Several of those vegetable growths should receive som-> attention. There are three varieties of good coffee, very good coffee, produced now. It may be others can be developed. Of the three new grown, one is a native product and has a very fine flavor. Tea of nearly egbry known grade is already cultivated. Over thirty tons of sugar not cane, but sugar, are grown to the acre, and the Philippine sugar plantation produces three crops a year. Alfalfa will grow six crops to the year. With the soil properly fertilized no one can tell how much those islands can produce of these commodities. Forage is one of the present problems of the Philippine government. It should be very easy to solve when modern methods are applied to the production of fodder ! have here or my desk from the Xa tional Museum a col’ection of over eighty grasses now growing there. As a general proposition almost any grass is good for fodder. The uplands are all covered with grasses and are said to be equal as grazing tracts to any in the world. A Forecast of Future Prosperity. “One region in the islands, not more than 135 miles north of Manila, has an elevation of 5.000 feet, a temperature which never exceeds TS or fails below 45. aad can • grow every product of the temperate regions. There are abundant lowlands for the growth of lowland rice and. plenty of ground suitable for the production of upland rice, indiga will prove one of the most valuable export products. I've no doubt but that the coffee and tea ndastries will thrive, although overdevotion to sugar has temporarily eclipsed them. The opportunities open to the Philippine farmer, when once he has progressed beyond the stage of the wooden pk>w. are almost unlimited. I thick."