[4] Sucesos de las Islas Filipinos, Antonio de Morga, Chap. 8. In Blair and Robertson Vol. 16, p. 87.
“Instead of olives and other pickled fruit, they have a green fruit, like walnuts, which they call “paos.” (Pahó.) Some are small, and others larger in size, and when prepared they have a pleasant taste. They also preserve “charas” in pickle brine, and all sorts of vegetables and greens, which are very appetizing. There is much ginger, and it is eaten green, pickled, and preserved.” (Ibid. p. 97).
[5] Merrill: Flora of Manila.
[6] However, both Dr. Tavera (Census of the Philippine Islands, Vol. I, p. 329), and Montero y Vidal (Historia General de Filipinas, Vol. I, p. 66.), state that the sweet potato was being cultivated here at the time of the conquest. Pigafetta also mentions it in his account.
[7] The American element in the Philippine flora is of peculiar interest as showing the effect of commerce on the vegetation of a country. Even with the limited communication between the Philippines and Mexico, it is surprising to consider the number of American forms introduced here through the medium of the galleons in the years when all communication between Spain and the Philippines was via Mexico. From the time of the Spanish conquest up to the year 1815, a period of nearly 300 years, the government galleons sailed annually for Manila, first from Navidad and later from Acapulco, on the western coast of Mexico. These galleons carried not only the civil, military, and ecclesiastical authorities between Spain and the Philippines via Mexico, but also other travellers, merchants, etc., as well as large quantities of merchandise.
At an early date various Spanish officials, but, apparently, chiefly the priests, introduced here the various species of economic value, food plants, medicinal plants, fruits, etc., that were familiar to their countrymen in tropical America, most often bringing seeds, but in some cases most certainly living plants. Undoubtedly many species were introduced at that time that failed to become established here. Among the American species purposely introduced from Mexico may be mentioned the following: “Maize (Zea mays L.), introduced for food; the “pineapple” (Ananas sativus Schultes), for its edible fruit and its fiber; maguey (Agave cantula Roxb.), for its fiber; the tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa L.), for its fragrant flowers; the spider lily (Hymenocallis tenuiflora Herb.), for ornamental purposes; the canna (Canna indica L.), for ornamental purposes; arrowroot (Marania arundinacea L.), for food; “aposotis” (Chenopodium ambrosioides L.), for medical purposes; four o’clock (Mirabilis jalapa L.), for ornamental purposes; “libato” (Anredera scandens Moq.); various species of Anona (A. muricata L., A. reticulata L., and A. squamosa L.), for their edible fruits; the avocado (Persea americana Mill.), for its edible fruit; the Mexican poppy (Argemone mexicana L.), for ornamental purposes or for medicine; “camanchile” (Pithecolobium dulce Benth.), for its tanbark and its edible fruit; “aroma” (Acacia farnesiana Willd.) for its fragrant flowers; “ipel-ipel” (Leucaena glauca Benth.), as a hedge plant; the sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica L.), for ornamental purposes; “cabellero” (Caesalpinia pulcherrima Sw.), for ornamental purposes; “acapulco” (Cassia alata L.), for medicinal purposes; the “peanut” (Arachis hypogaea L.), for food; indigo (Indigofera suffruticosa Mill.), for dye; “madre cacao” (Gliricidia sepium Steud.), for hedges and for ornamental purposes; the lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.), for food; the yam bean (Pachyrrhizus erosus Urb.), for its edible root; the bilimbi and carambola (Averrhoa bilimbi L., and A. carambola L.), for their edible fruits; physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.), for medicine, as well as J. multifida L. for ornamental purposes; cassava (Manihot utilissima Pohl), for food; the cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale L.), for its edible fruit; “ciruelas” (Spondias purpurea L,.), for its edible fruit; “cotton” (Gossypium braziliense Macf.), for textile purposes; “cacao” (Theobroma cacao L.), the source of chocolate and cacao; acheute (Bixa Orellana L.), for dye; the “papaya” (Carica papaya L.), for its edible fruit; various species of cacti (Nopalea and Cereus), for ornamental purposes; the guava (Psidium guajava L.), for its edible fruit; the “chico” (Achras sapota L.), for its edible fruit; the “chico mamey” (Lucuma mammosa L.), for its edible fruit; the “sapote negro” (Diospyros ebenaster Retz.), for its edible fruit; the temple flower (Plumeria acutifolia Poir.), for its fragrant flowers; the periwinkle (Lochnera rosea Reichb.), for its ornamental flowers; “campanello” (Thevetia neriifolia Juss. and Allamanda caihartica L.), for ornamental and medicinal purposes; some species of convolvuli (Ipomoea nil Roth, Quamoclit pinnata Boj., Colonictyon aculeatum House), for ornamental purposes, and the “sweet potato” (Ipomoea batatas Poir.), for food; lantana (Lantana camara L.), for ornamental purposes; “dama de noche” (Cestrum nocturnum L.), for its fragrant flowers; “tobacco” (Nicotiana tabacum L.); the tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.); the peppers (Capsicum frutescens L. and C. annuum L.), for condiments and for food; some ornamental Bignoniaceae (Crescentia alata HBK., and Tecoma stans Juss.); (?) the squash (Curcubita maxima Duch.), for food; some ornamental Compositae (Tagetes erecta L., Helianthus annuus L., Cosmos caudatus HBK., and C sulphureus Cav.), and “ayapana” (Eupatorium triplinerve Vahl), for medicine.”
(Merrill: Flora of Manila, pp. 198–199.)
[8] On the whole, agriculture was not the chief aim of Spanish colonization. “How little attention, on the whole, the conquistadores directed to agricultural colonies, considering their various services in the transplantation of domestic animals, cereals, and vegetables from the Old to the New World, is very clearly shown by Peter Martyr, who condemns the expedition to Florida with the words: “For what purpose do we need such products as are identical with those of southern Europe?” It is true that Columbus’s second voyage of discovery had a settlement in view, and for that reason was provided with domestic animals, seeds, etc. It was a failure, however, owing to the mutinous spirit of the Spaniards. The regions which were best adapted to agricultural colonies, as, for example, Caracas, Guiana, Buenos Ayres, were neglected by the Spaniards for centuries. (“The Spanish Colonial Policy,” Wilhelm Roscher (1904), pp. 2–3.)
“It is a strange thing that the Spaniards who go to those regions (The Philippines) honestly to make a small fortune do not engage more in agriculture, in a country where there is so much virgin land and of such great fertility, where labor is extremely cheap, and the crop easily and profitably sold.” (La Libertad de Comercio en Filipinas, Manuel Azcarraga y Palmero, p. 27.)
“ * * * the Spaniards cared but little for the cultivation of the lands.” (The Ecclesiastical System in the Philippines, Manuel Buzeta, O. S. A., and Felipe Bravo, O. S. A., Madrid, 1850. From their Diccionario de las Islas Filipinas. In Bl. and Rb., Vol. 28, p. 285.