Both corn and camotes flourish in Bukidnon, where the former often attains a height of from twelve to eighteen feet and produces one to four ears to the stalk. Here, as elsewhere, careful seed selection rapidly increases the crop. Camotes, planted after the first ploughing, kill out all grass and weeds, but rapidly impoverish the soil. Planting camotes on a large scale and close subsequent pasturing of the land with hogs would leave the soil enriched and in excellent condition for planting with other crops. A little corn would put camote-fed hogs in splendid condition for the market. In this way it would be possible to raise them inexpensively and on a large scale.
The Philippines produce citrus fruits in considerable variety. Some of the native oranges and lemons are excellent. No care has as yet ever been given to their cultivation. They are never pruned or sprayed, nor is the ground around them kept clean. The larger Philippine towns and cities afford a good market for citrus fruits, and any surplus could be shipped to neighbouring Asiatic cities. Experiments in budding American varieties on to the native stock are now in progress.
In many parts of the islands climate and soil are perfectly adapted to the production of pineapples, which at present usually grow uncared for. One pineapple plantation has already been established, and a factory for canning the product is under construction. Others will follow.
Roselle, from the fruit of which is made a jelly equal to currant jelly in colour, and very similar to it in flavour, grows luxuriantly and produces heavy crops of fruit. An excellent fermented drink may be made from its leaves and stems.
Mangos, commonly considered to be the best fruit produced in the islands, can be successfully canned.
Guavas grow wild over extensive areas, and a properly located factory could produce guava jelly in large quantity.
Briefly, there is every opportunity for the profitable investment of brains, capital and energy in agricultural pursuits along a score of different lines. Such investment would be of immense advantage to the Filipinos themselves. They are neither original nor naturally progressive, but they are quick to imitate, and would follow the example set for them. Their country would readily support eighty million people, and it has eight million, so there is still room for a few foreigners.
If rice is the bread of the people, fresh fish is their meat. Twenty or thirty thousand pounds of fresh fish are sold daily in Manila, and the supply is inadequate to meet the demand. A similar condition exists in many of the larger towns throughout the archipelago. Dried fish is extensively used, and sardines preserved in brine find a ready sale. They may be taken in immense quantities in the southern islands at certain seasons. The intelligent application of modern methods to the taking, preserving and marketing of fish would give immediate and large returns.
Rinderpest appeared in the islands in 1888, and from that time until the establishment of civil government under American rule swept through the archipelago practically unchecked, causing enormous losses to agriculture. For a time it was impossible to plough anything like the normal amount of land, because of the lack of draught animals.
Promptly upon their establishment, the Bureau of Science and the Bureau of Agriculture began a determined campaign against this the most dangerous pest of cattle. The fight has never ceased up to the present time. While the disease is not completely stamped out, its ravages have been reduced to insignificant proportions, and the natural increase of the surviving animals has rehabilitated agriculture.