NATIVE WOODEN PLOUGH AND YOKE FOR OXEN.
A stronger and heavier plough was shown to our friends, and Mr. Segovia explained that it was intended for oxen instead of buffaloes, and was used for stirring the ground where the lighter plough was insufficient. Frank observed that the yoke was not supplied with bows, after the American plan, but had a couple of upright pins at each end to enclose the neck of the ox. When the team is to be made up, the yoke is held over the necks of the animals, and dropped into place; and if they are at all restive, the space at the lower ends of the pins is closed by means of a cord. A rope, instead of a chain, forms the connection between the yoke and the beam of the plough. The latter has only one handle, on the theory that the ploughman needs the use of one of his hands for guiding his team, and consequently a double hold on the plough is impossible.
THE COMB HARROW.
From the ploughing-ground they passed a little farther on to where a stretch of muddy ground was being harrowed, so as to make it ready for planting rice. Two or three inches of water covered the ground, and the object of the harrowing was to convert the water and earth into a bed of liquid mud. For this purpose a novel kind of implement was used; it was called a comb harrow, and had a single row of iron teeth fixed in a wooden frame. The traces of the buffalo were fastened so that they had a tendency to draw the teeth forward, and the machine was steadied by a handle or cross-bar parallel to the beam in which the teeth were placed. It was a simple and very effective instrument, and Frank thought it might be used to advantage on certain parts of his father's farm in America.
The soil of the Philippine Islands is, in general, so rich that it yields very bountifully; and, as it is in the tropics, there is no season of frost, and snow, when cultivation must cease. Agriculture goes on through the entire year, and on some parts of the soil three and occasionally four crops can be raised. The year is divided into the wet season and the dry; in the former, the rain falls in torrents, and fills the rivers and lakes, together with artificial reservoirs, where water is stored for irrigating the fields in the time of drought. Crops are made to follow each other so that the soil may not be exhausted by repetitions; thus, in the mountain districts, it is customary to plant the ground with rice, and, as soon as it is gathered, it is followed by a planting of tobacco.
Formerly the island of Luzon produced large quantities of pepper for exportation, but at present there is hardly enough grown there to supply the local demand. Fred asked the reason of this, and was told the following story: