The men use their bolos to cut up the betel nut, but the women have a small knife 21 which also answers the purpose of a general utility implement corresponding to our scissors.
21Ba-di' or kam-pit.
When the chewer's teeth have deteriorated from age, the quid is mashed in a small mortar made of hardwood, a piece of steel serving as a pestle. In this way the betel nut and leaf are rendered sufficiently soft for mastication.
In conclusion, it may be said that though the habit seems a dirty one, owing to the discoloration of the mouth and lips of the chewer and to the ruby expectorations that tinge his surroundings, yet on the whole it is a necessary and beneficial practice. From my observation and experience, I believe that the habit eliminates toothache and other disorders of the teeth. Christianized Manóbos and Bisáyas who have relinquished the habit suffer from dental troubles, whereas the inveterate chewer of the mountains is free from them. The Manóbo can not endure the long and frequent hikes, nor carry the heavy loads that he does, without this mild but efficacious restorative.
CHAPTER X
MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE
AGRICULTURE
GENERAL REMARKS
Agriculture is in a very primitive condition. It is true that most of the Christianized Manóbos living in the river settlements have a few hundred abaká plants each, yet the care of them is left practically to nature, their productivity depending upon the soil. But the true mountaineer plants nothing except the bare necessities of life--rice and camotes, some taro,1 a little sugarcane in season, a little patch of maize, and sometimes ginger and other spices.