If all went well with the crop, large profits might accrue to the cacao-planter, but it rarely happens (perhaps never) during the six months of fruit-ripening that losses are not sustained by hurricanes, disease in the tree, the depredations of parrots, monkeys, rats, and other vermin, etc. Practically speaking, cacao-planting should only be undertaken in this Colony by agriculturists who have spare capital and can afford to lose a crop one year to make up for it in the next. The venture pays handsomely in fortunate seasons, but it is not the line of planting to be taken up by hand-to-mouth colonists who must seek immediate returns, nor as a sole occupation.
Castor Oil is obtained in a few places from the seeds of the Palma Christi or Ricinus communis, but the plant is not cultivated, and the oil has not yet become an article of current trade.
Gogo (Entada pursætha), sometimes called Bayogo in Tagálog, is a useful forest product in general demand, on sale at every market-place and native general shop. It is a fibrous bark, taken in strips of 3 or 4 feet long. It looks exactly like cocoa-nut coir, except that its colour is a little lighter and brighter. It is used for cleansing the hair, for which purpose a handful is put to soak in a basin of water overnight, and the next morning it will saponify when rubbed between the hands. The soap which issues therefrom is then rubbed in the hair at the time of bathing. It is in common use among the natives of both sexes and many Europeans. An infusion of Gogo is a purgative. If placed dry in the tinaja jars (Tagálog, Tapayan), containing cacao-beans, the insects will not attack the beans.
Camote (Convolvulus batatas) is the sweet potato or Yam, the foliage of which quickly spreads out like a carpet over the soil and forms tubers, like the common potato. It is a favourite article of food among the natives, and in nearly every island it is also found wild. In kitchen-gardens it is planted like the potato, the tuber being cut in pieces. Sometimes it is dried (Tagálog, Pacúmbong camote). It is also preserved whole in molasses (Tagálog, Palúbog na camote).
Gabi (Caladium) is another kind of esculent root, palatable to the natives, similar to the turnip, and throws up stalks from 1 to 3 feet high, at the end of which is an almost round leaf, dark green, from 3 to 5 inches diameter at maturity.
Potatoes are grown in Cebú Island, but they are rarely any larger than walnuts. With very special care a larger size has been raised in Negros Island; also potatoes of excellent flavour and of a pinkish colour are cultivated in the district of Benguet; in Manila there is a certain demand for this last kind.
Mani (Arachis hypogæa), commonly called the “Pea-nut,” is a creeping plant, which grows wild in many places. It is much cultivated, however, partly for the sake of the nut or fruit, but principally for the leaves and stalks, which, when dried, even months old, serve as an excellent and nutritious fodder for ponies. It contains a large quantity of oil, and in some districts it is preferred to the fresh-cut zacate grass, with which the ponies and cattle are fed in Manila.
The Philippine pea-nut is about as large as that seen in England. In 1904 the American Bureau of Agriculture brought to the Islands for seed a quantity of New Orleans pea-nuts two to three times larger.
Areca Palm (Areca calechu) (Tagálog, Bon͠ga), the nut of which is used to make up the chewing betel when split into slices about one-eighth of an inch thick. This is one of the most beautiful palms. The nuts cluster on stalks under the tuft of leaves at the top of the tall slender stem. It is said that one tree will produce, according to age, situation, and culture, from 200 to 800 nuts yearly. The nut itself is enveloped in a fibrous shell, like the cocoa-nut. In Europe a favourite dentifrice is prepared from the areca-nut.