| Dollars. |
| Imperiales | box contains 125 cigars | 3·750 |
| Regalias and Caballeros | 125 | 3·125 |
| 1 Havanas, | 1 Cortados | 250 | 3·500 |
| 2 | 2 | 500 | 4·000 |
| 3 | 3 | 500 | 3·500 |
| 4 | | 500 | 3·000 |
| 5 | | 500 | 2·500 |
| Londres | 125 | 1·875 |
Upon these minimum prices biddings take place at the monthly public auctions. So large is the demand that it is difficult to obtain any but fresh cigars, which require to be kept for two or three years to ripen.
The collection of tobacco and the manufacture of cigars are under the charge of an administration whose head-quarters are in Manila. The warehouses are of immense extent, and 20,000 persons probably find occupation in the preparation of this article of luxury, to say nothing of those employed in its production. The provinces in which there are establishments for the collection are Cagayan, La Isabela, New Ecija, La Union, Abra and Cayan. The largest of the manufactures of cigars are in Binondo (Manila) and Cavite, in the province of the same name.
Fr. Blanco thus describes the Nicotiana tabacum of the Philippines: “It is an annual, growing to the height of a fathom, and furnishes the tobacco for the estancos (licensed shops). Here, as everywhere else, its quality and taste vary. General opinion prefers the tobacco of Gapan, but that of the Pasy districts, Laglag and Lambunao, in Iloilo, of Maasin or Leyte, is appreciated for its fine aroma; also that of Cagayan, after being kept for some years,—for otherwise, like the tobacco of the island of Negros, it burns the mouth. It is a narcotic, and will subdue recent tumours. It is salutary when smoked, and even a necessity in these regions; it disperses phlegm, protects from the bad consequences of humidity and the morning dews, and is only injurious to health when used in excess. Snuff relieves from headaches and disperses gloomy humours. A small piece of smoked tobacco at the end of a stick applied to the nose of the lizard, which is here called the chacon (probably the ghiko), causes its instant death. A cruel practice,” (adds the father), “for the reptile is most useful, destroying cockroaches, centipedes, mice and other vermin; besides which its song may cheer the timid, who believe that while that song lasts there will be no earthquakes nor any excess of rain.”—(Pp. 74–75.)
I am informed by the alcalde mayor of Cagayan that he sent last year (1858) to Manila from that province tobacco for no less a value than 2,000,000 dollars. The quality is the best of the Philippines; it is all forwarded in leaf to the capital. He speaks of the character of the Indians with great admiration, and says acts of dishonesty are very rare among them, and that property is conveyed in perfect safety through the province. The quantity of leaf transmitted was 300,000 bales, divided into seven qualities, of which the prices paid were from two to seven rials per quintal, leaving a large margin of profit. The tobacco used by the natives is not subject to the estanco, and on my inquiring as to the cost of a cigar in Cagayan, the answer was, “Casi nada” (Almost nothing). They are not so well rolled as those of the government, but undoubtedly the raw material is of the very best.
The demand for the important article of coffee in Australia and California will probably hereafter be largely supplied from the Spanish archipelago. Of the mode of cultivation, there is nothing particularly characteristic of the Philippines. The ground having been cleared (where on a large extent, by fire), it is fenced in, the soil prepared, and after having been steeped in water for two or three days, the sprouts are stuck into the holes which had been made for their reception, and in the following year are ready for cutting. The use of the plough largely increases the produce. The cultivation of sugar is rapidly extending. The harvest takes place generally from March to May. Four groups of labourers are employed: the cutters and the carters in the field, the grinders and the boilers in the manufactory. Improvements are gradually being introduced, as larger capitalists and more intelligent cultivators come forward; and the establishment of refineries now in progress will induce many beneficial changes. Much of the clayed sugar which I saw delivered at Manila for refining into loaves had rather the appearance of dirty mud than of a valuable commodity. Though slowly, the work of improvement goes on, and there could be no greater evidence of it than the presence of a number of Chinese employed in the various stages of the fabric. Nor do these Chinese labourers fail to bring with them much practical knowledge. They are mostly from Fokien, a province in which the production of sugar is great, and in which there are large sugar refineries, mostly, however, for the manufacture of sugar-candy, which is the form in which the Chinese usually purchase the sugar for consumption, pounding it into powder. I visited several extensive establishments at Chang-chow-foo, about thirty miles from Amoy, a port whence the exportation is large.
There are several varieties of the sugar-cane. The zambales is used principally as food; the encarnado (red), morada (purple), blanca (white), and listada (striped), give the syrup for manufacture. The planting of the sprouts takes place between February and May. Weeds are removed by ploughing, and the plants ripen in ten or twelve months. In some provinces crops are cultivated for three successive years; in others, the soil is allowed to rest an intermediate year, and maize or other produce grown. When cut, the canes are carried to mills called by the natives cabayavan, to be crushed. The mills consist of two cylindrical stones with teeth of the molave wood; a buffalo turns the wheel and the juice is conveyed to the boilers. The improvements of the West are being slowly introduced, and sundry economical processes have been adopted. Increasing demand, extended cultivation and, above all, the application of larger capitals and greater activity, will, undoubtedly, make the Philippines one of the great producing countries. A variety of tables have been printed, showing that the average annual profits on coffee cultivation are from 20 to 30 per cent.; in some provinces considerably more.
Rice being of far more general production, is estimated to give an average yearly profit of from 12 to 20 per cent.; sesame returns an average of about 20 per cent.; cocoa-nuts may be considered at about equal to rice in the yearly benefits they leave, but the conditions are so various that it may be difficult to generalize. It may, however, be asserted with tolerable certainty, that money employed with ordinary prudence in agricultural investments will give an interest of from 20 to 30 per cent.
The consumption of rice is universal, and the superfluity of the harvests is taken to the Chinese markets. The varieties of rice have been elsewhere spoken of, but they may be classed under the two general heads of water and mountain rice. The aquatic rice is cultivated as in Europe and America; the sowing of the dry rice usually precedes that of the water rice, and takes place at the end of May. It is usually broadcast on the hills, requires to be hoed and weeded, and is ripened in from three to four months and a half. It is harvested ear by ear.
Fr. Blanco describes four species of water-cultivated (de agua), and five of mountain-produced (secano) rice. Of the first class, the lamuyo (Oryza sativa lamuyo) is principally cultivated, especially in Batangas. The barbed rice (Oryza aristata) grows in Ilocos. Of the mountain rice, that called quinanda (Oryza sativa quinanda) is the most esteemed. The cultivation of the water rice begins by the preparation of the seed deposits (semillero), into which, at the beginning of the rainy season, the seed is thrown, after a thorough impregnation of the ground with water, of which several inches remain on the surface. Ploughing and harrowing produce a mass of humid mud. During the growth of the seed, irrigation is continued, and after six weeks the crops are ready for transplanting to the rice-fields. Men generally pull up the plants, and convey them to the fields, where women up to their knees in mire separate the plants, and place them in holes at a regular distance of about five inches from one another. They are left for some days to take root, when the grounds are again irrigated. The rice grows to the height of somewhat more than a yard, and after four months is ready for harvest. It is a common usage to cut every ear separately with an instrument whose Indian name is yatap. In some parts a sickle called a lilit is used. The lilit has a crook by which a number of ears are collected, and being grasped with the left hand, are cut by the serrated blade of the sickle held in the right hand. The crops of aquatic rice vary from thirty to eightyfold.