Agricultural Implements.
It requires a month or six weeks to make ready the fields, and in the meantime the rice in the seed beds has grown to a height of twelve or fourteen inches. The shoots are then pulled up by the roots, are tied into bundles, and the tops are cut off (Plate [LI]). The bundles are distributed about the fields at convenient distances, and the workers then transplant the young rice—three or four together—in the soft ooze, using the thumb and fore-finger of the right hand for that purpose (Plate [LII]). The preparation of the field is looked after by the men and boys, and oftentimes they aid in transplanting, but the latter is considered to be women's work, and is generally left to them.
The rice is set so thickly that when a plot is planted it presents to the eye a solid mass of green. It is hard to imagine a more beautiful sight than to look down on these fields, which rise in wave above wave of brilliant green, until at last they give way to the yellower billows of cogon grass which cover the mountain slopes.
After the transplanting, the grain needs constant attention; at first, to keep it properly weeded and flooded; later, to protect it from animals and birds. Hence many workers are always in the fields, but it is, nevertheless, the happy time for the people, and if one approaches a group of workers unawares, he will hear one or more singing the daleng, a song in which they compliment or chide the other workers, or relate some incident of the hunt or of village life. Toward midday little groups will gather in the field shelters to partake of their lunches, to smoke, or to rest, and usually in such a gathering will be a good story-teller who amuses with fables, or tales of adventure.[6]
When the rice begins to mature, an even stricter watch must be kept, for, in addition to its other enemies, the rice birds[7] now seek to feed on the crop and, while they are small in size, they often appear in such numbers that they work great havoc.
The usual device employed in frightening both birds and animals is a bamboo pole cut into strips at the top, so that, as it is shaken, these strike together, producing a great clatter. Many of these poles are planted, and then all are connected by means of rattan lines which finally lead to the little watch house. Here a man or boy sits and occasionally gives the lines a sudden jerk, which sets up a clapping over Page 391the whole field (Plate [LIII]). A clever development of this device was seen by the writer in the Ikmin river valley. Here the stream flows swiftly and plunges headlong into pools every few yards. The rattan cord attached to the clappers is fastened to a small raft which is then set afloat in the pool. After a whirl in the eddy it is caught by the swift current, and is carried a few feet down stream, at the same time bending the clappers nearly to the ground; then as the raft enters calmer water, the tension is released, and it is thrown violently back into the pool from which it has just drifted; at the same time the clappers fly back into place with a great noise.
Another contrivance, used in keeping small birds from the fields, is a bird-like form cut from the bark of a banana or palm tree. Many of these are suspended by lines from bamboo poles, and, as the wind blows them to and fro, they appear like giant birds hovering over the rice.
A simple protection against deer is made by bending the white inner bark of bamboo into arches and planting these at intervals along possible places of entry, for it is said that these animals will not approach such a contrivance.
Soon after the water is turned into the fields, shells and fish begin to appear even in the higher terraces. Doubtless a considerable part of these come in through the ditches, but the natives insist that most of the fish bury themselves deep in the mud at the approach of the dry season and hibernate until water again appears in the fields.[8] These intruders are prized as food, and to secure them, short baited lines are placed along the edges of the terraces, while each woman has, attached to her belt, a small basket into which she places shells discovered during her work. The men likewise secure fish by means of hooks and lines, and also pierce them with short spears fitted with detachable points, but more commonly they shoot them with a small bow and peculiar arrows, the heads of which resemble flattened spoons cut into four or five teeth.[9]