Hemp (Musa textilis)—referred to by some scientific writers as M. troglodytarum—is a wild species of the plantain (M. paradisiaca) found growing in many parts of the Philippine Islands. It so closely resembles the M. paradisiaca, which bears the well-known and agreeable fruit—the edible banana, that only connoisseurs can perceive the difference in the density of colour and size of the green leaves—those of the hemp-plant being of a somewhat darker hue, and shorter. The fibre of a number of species of Musa is used for weaving, cordage, etc., in tropical countries.

This herbaceous plant seems to thrive best on an inclined plane, for nearly all the wild hemp which I have seen has been found on mountain slopes, even far away down the ravines. Although requiring a considerable amount of moisture, hemp will not thrive in swampy land, and to attain any great height it must be well shaded by other trees more capable of bearing the sun's rays. A great depth of soil is not indispensable for its development, as it is to be seen flourishing in its natural state on the slopes of volcanic formation. In Albay Province it grows on the declivities of the Mayon Volcano.

The hemp-tree in the Philippines reaches an average height of 10 feet. It is an endogenous plant, the stem of which is enclosed in layers of half-round petioles. The hemp-fibre is extracted from these petioles, which, when cut down, are separated into strips, five to six inches wide, and drawn under a knife attached at one end by a hinge to a block of wood, whilst the other end is suspended to the extremity of a flexible stick. The bow tends to raise the knife, and a cord, attached to the same end of the knife, and a treadle are so arranged that by a movement of the foot the operator can bring the knife to work on the hemp petiole with the pressure he chooses. The bast is drawn through between the knife and the block, the operator twisting the fibre, at each pull, around a stick of wood or his arm, whilst the parenchymatous pulp remains on the other side of the knife. There is no use for the pulp. The knife should be without teeth or indentations, but nearly everywhere in Capis Province I have seen it with a slightly serrated edge. The fibre is then spread out to dry, and afterwards tightly packed in bales with iron or rattan hoops for shipment.

A finer fibre than the ordinary hemp is sometimes obtained in small quantities from the specially-selected edges of the petiole, and this material is used by the natives for weaving. The quantity procurable is limited, and the difficulty in obtaining it consists in the frequent breakage of the fibre whilst being drawn, due to its comparative fragility. Its commercial value is about double that of ordinary first-class cordage hemp. The stuff made from this fine fibre (in Bicol dialect, LÚpis) suits admirably for ladies' dresses. Ordinary hemp fibre is used for the manufacture of coarse native stuff, known in Manila as Sinamay, much worn by the poorer classes of natives; large quantities of it come from Yloilo. In Panay Island a kind of texture called Husi is made of a mixture of fine hemp (lÚpis) and pine-apple leaf fibre. Sometimes this fabric is palmed off on foreigners as pure piÑa stuff, but a connoisseur can easily detect the hemp filament by the touch of the material, there being in the hemp-fibre, as in horsehair, a certain amount of stiffness and a tendency to spring back which, when compressed into a ball in the hand, prevents the stuff from retaining that shape. PiÑa fibre is soft and yielding.

Many attempts have been made to draw the hemp fibre by machinery, but in spite of all strenuous efforts, no one has hitherto succeeded in introducing into the hemp districts a satisfactory mechanical apparatus. If the entire length of fibre in a strip of bast could bear the strain of full tension, instead of having to wind it around a cylinder (which would take the place of the operator's hand and stick under the present system), then a machine could be contrived to accomplish the work. Machines with cylinders to reduce the tension have been constructed, the result being admirable so far as the extraction of the fibre is concerned, but the cylinder upon which the fibre coiled, as it came from under the knife, always discoloured the material. A trial was made with a glass cylinder, but the same inconvenience was experienced. On another occasion the cylinder was dispensed with, and a reciprocating-motion clutch drew the bast, running to and fro the whole length of the fibre frame, the fibre being gripped by a pair of steel parallel bars on its passage in one or two places, as might be necessary, to lessen the tension. These steel bars, however, always left a transversal black line on the filament, and diminished its marketable value. What is desired is a machine which could be worked by one man and turn out at least as much clean fibre as the old apparatus could with two men. Also that the whole appliance should be portable by one man.

In 1886 the most perfect mechanical contrivance hitherto brought out was tried in Manila by its Spanish inventor, Don Abelardo Cuesta; it worked to the satisfaction of those who saw it, but the saving of manual labour was so inconsiderable that the greater bulk of hemp shipped is still extracted by the primitive process.

In September, 1905, Fray Mateo Atienza, of the Franciscan Order, exhibited in Manila a hemp-fibre-drawing machine of his own invention, the practical worth of which has yet to be ascertained. It is alleged that this machine, manipulated by one man, can, in a given time, turn out 104 per cent. more clean fibre than the old-fashioned apparatus worked by two men.

Musa textilis has been planted in British India as an experiment, with unsatisfactory result, evidently owing to a want of knowledge of the essential conditions of the fibre-extraction. One report1 says—

In the Philippines one is careful not to bruise the stems, as this would weaken the fibre and discolour it.

Another statement from British India shows that Manila hemp requires a very special treatment. It runs thus:—

If treated in the same manner in the Philippines, a similar bad result would ensue; the pressure of mill rollers would discolour the fibre, and the soaking with 48 per cent. of pulp, before being sun-dried, would weaken it.

Dr. Ure, in his “Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines,” p. 1, thus describes Manila Hemp:—

Manila-hemp rope is very durable; it is equally applicable to cables and to ships' standing and running rigging, but wanting in flexibility.3

Hemp-growing, with ample capital, appears to be the most lucrative and least troublesome of all agricultural enterprises in staple export produce in the Colony, whilst it is quite independent of the seasons. The plant is neither affected by disease nor do insects attack it, and the only ordinary risks appear to be hurricanes, drought, insufficient weeding, and the ravages of the wild boar.

Planted in virgin soil, each shoot occupies, at first, a space of 20 English square feet. In the course of time, this regularity of distribution disappears as the original plant is felled and the suckers come up anywhere, spontaneously, from its root. The plant requires three years to arrive at cutting maturity, or four years if raised from the seed; most planters, however, transplant the six-month suckers, instead of the seed, when forming a new plantation. The stem should be cut for fibre-drawing at the flowering maturity; in no case should it be allowed to bear fruit, as the fibre is thereby weakened, and there is sometimes even a waste of material in the drawing, as the accumulation of fibre with the sap at the knife is greater.

The average weight of dry fibre extracted from one plant equals 10 ounces, or say 2 per cent, of the total weight of the stem and petioles; but as in practice there is a certain loss of petioles, by cutting out of maturity, whilst others are allowed to rot through negligence, the average output from a carefully-managed estate does not exceed 3–60 cwt. per acre, or say 4 piculs per caban of land.

The length of the bast, ready for manipulation at the knife, averages in Albay 6 feet 6 inches.

The weight of moisture in the wet fibre, immediately it is drawn from the bast, averages 56 per cent. To sun-dry the fibre thoroughly, an exposure of five hours is necessary.

The first petioles forming the outer covering, and the slender central stem itself around which they cluster, are thrown away. Due to the inefficient method of fibre-drawing, or rather the want of mechanical appliances to effect the same, the waste of fibre probably amounts to as much as 30 per cent. of the whole contained in the bast.

In sugar-cane planting, the poorer the soil is the wider the cane is planted, whilst the hemp-plant is set out at greater space on virgin land than on old, worked land, the reason being that the hemp-plant in rich soil throws out a great number of shoots from the same root, which require nourishment and serve for replanting. If space were not left for their development, the main stem would flower before it had reached its full height and circumference, whereas sugar-cane is purposely choked in virgin soil to check its running too high and dispersing the saccharine matter whilst becoming ligneous.

A great advantage to the colonist, in starting hemp-growing in virgin forest-land, consists in the clearance requiring to be only partial, whilst newly opened up land is preferable, as on it the young plants will sometimes throw up as many as thirty suckers. The largest forest-trees are intentionally left to shade the plants and young shoots, so that only light rooting is imperatively necessary. In cane-planting, quite the reverse is the case, ploughing and sunshine being needful.

The great drawback to the beginner with limited capital is the impossibility of recouping himself for his labour and recovering profit on outlay before three years at least. After that period the risk is small, drought being the chief calamity to be feared. The plants being set out on high land are extremely seldom inundated, and a conflagration could not spread far amongst green leaves and sappy petioles. There is no special cropping season as there is in the case of sugar-cane, which, if neglected, brings a total loss of crop; the plants naturally do not all mature at precisely the same time, and the fibre-extraction can be performed with little precipitation, and more or less all the year round, although the dry season is preferable for the sun-bleaching. If, at times, the stage of maturity be overlooked, it only represents a percentage of loss, whilst a whole plantation of ripe sugar-cane must all be cut with the least possible delay. No ploughing is necessary, although the plant thrives better when weeding is carefully attended to; no costly machinery has to be purchased and either left to the mercy of inexperienced hands or placed under the care of highly-paid Europeans, whilst there are few agricultural implements and no live-stock to be maintained for field labour.

The hemp-fibre, when dry, runs a greater risk of fire than sugar, but upon the whole, the comparative advantages of hemp cultivation over sugar-cane planting appear to be very great.

Hemp-fibre is classified by the large provincial dealers and Manila firms as of first, second, and third qualities. The dealers, or acopiadores, in treating with the small native collectors, or their own workpeople, take delivery of hemp under two classes only, viz.:—first quality (corriente) and second quality (colorada), the former being the whiter, with a beautiful silky gloss.

The difficulties with which the European hemp-cultivator has to contend all centre to the same origin—the indolence of the native; hence there is a continual struggle between capitalist and labourer in the endeavour to counterbalance the native's inconstancy and antipathy to systematic work. Left to himself, the native cuts the plant at any period of its maturity. When he is hard pressed for a peso or two he strips a few petioles, leaving them for days exposed to the rain and atmosphere to soften and render easier the drawing of the fibre, in which putrefaction has commenced. The result is prejudicial to the dealer and the plantation owner, because the fibre discolours. Then he passes the bast under a toothed knife, which is easy to work, and goes down to the village with his bundle of discoloured coarse fibre with a certain amount of dried sap on it to increase the weight. He chooses night-time for the delivery, so that the acopiador may be deceived in the colour upon which depends the selection of quality, and in order that the fibre, absorbing the dew, may weigh heavier. These are the tricks of the trade well known to the native. The large dealers and plantation owners use every effort to enforce the use of knives without teeth, so that the fibre may be fine, perfectly clean and white, to rate as first-class; the native opposes this on the ground that he loses in weight, whilst he is too dull to appreciate his gain in higher value. For instance, presuming the first quality to be quoted in Manila at a certain figure per picul and the third quality at two pesos less, even though the first-class basis price remained firm, the third-class price would fall as the percentage of third-class quality in the supplies went on increasing.

Here and there are to be found hemp-plants which give a whiter fibre than others, whilst some assert that there are three or four kinds of hemp-plant; but in general all will yield commercial first-class hemp (AbacÁ corriente), and if the native could be coerced to cut the plant at maturity—draw the fibre under a toothless knife during the same day of stripping the petioles—lodge the fibre as drawn on a clean place, and sun-dry it on the first opportunity, then (the proprietors and dealers positively assert) the output of third-quality need not exceed 5 to 6 per cent. of the whole produced. In short, the question of quality in AbacÁ has vastly less relation to the species of the plant than to the care taken in its extraction and manipulation.

The Chinese very actively collect parcels of hemp from the smallest class of native owners, but they also enter into contracts which bring discredit to the reputation of a province as a hemp-producing district. For a small sum in cash a Chinaman acquires from a native the right to work his plantation during a short period. Having no proprietary interest at stake, and looking only to his immediate gain, he indiscriminately strips plants, regardless of maturity, and the property reverts to the small owner in a sorely dilapidated condition. The market result is that, although the fibre drawn may be white, it is weak, therefore dealings with the Chinese require special scrutiny. Under the native system each labourer on an “estate” (called in Albay Province latÉ) is remunerated by receiving one-half of all the fibre he draws; the other half belongs to the latÉ owner. The share corresponding to the labourer is almost invariably delivered at the same time to the employer, who purchases it at the current local value—often at much less.

In sugar-planting, as no sugar can be hoped for until the fixed grinding-season of the year, planters have to advance to their workpeople during the whole twelve months in Luzon, under the aparcero system. If, after so advancing during six or eight months, he loses half or more of his crop by natural causes, he stands a poor chance of recovering his advances of that year. There is no such risk in the case of hemp; when a man wants money he can work for it, and bring in his bundle of fibre and receive his half-share value. The few foreigners engaged in hemp-planting usually employ wage labour.

In Manila the export-houses estimate the prices of second and third qualities by a rebate from first-class quality price. These rates necessarily fluctuate. When the deliveries of second and third qualities go on increasing in their proportion to the quantity of first-class sent to the market, the rebate for lower qualities on the basis price (first-class) is consequently augmented. If the total supplies to Manila began to show an extraordinarily large proportionate increase of lower qualities, these differences of prices would be made wider, and in this manner indirect pressure is brought to bear upon the provincial shippers to send as much first-class quality as possible.

The labour of young plant-setting in Albay Province in Spanish times was calculated at 3 pesos per 1,000 plants; the cost of shoots 2 feet high, for planting out, was from 50 cents to one peso per 100. However, as proprietors were frequently cheated by natives who, having agreed to plant out the land, did not dig holes sufficiently deep, or set plants without roots, it became customary in Luzon to pay 10 pesos per 100 live plants, to be counted at the time of full growth, or say in three years, in lieu of paying for shoots and labour at the prices stated above. The contractor, of course, lived on the estate.

In virgin soil, 2,500 plants would be set in one pisoson of land (vide Albay land measure), or say 720 to each acre.

A hemp-press employing 60 men and boys should turn out 230 bales per day. Freight by mail steamer to Manila in the year 1890 from Albay ports beyond the San Bernardino Straits, was 50 cents per bale; from ports west of the Straits, 37½ cents per bale.

In the extraction of the fibre the natives work in couples; one man strips the bast, whilst his companion draws it under the knife. A fair week's work for a couple, including selection of the mature plants and felling, would be about 300 lbs. However, the labourer is not able to give his entire attention to fibre-drawing, for occasionally a day has to be spent in weeding and brushwood clearance, but his half-share interest covers this duty.

The finest quality of hemp is produced in the Islands of Leyte and Marinduque, and in the Province of SorsogÓn, especially GÚbat, in Luzon Island.

Previous to the year 1825, the quantity of hemp produced in these Islands was insignificant; in 1840 it is said to have exceeded 8,500 tons. The average annual shipment of hemp during the 20 years preceding the American occupation, i.e., 1879–98, was 72,815 tons, produced (annual average over that period) approximately as follows, viz.:—in Albay and SorsogÓn, 32,000 tons; in Leyte, 16,000 tons; in SÁmar, 9,000 tons; in Camarines, 4,500 tons; in Mindanao, 4,000 tons; in CebÚ, 2,500 tons; in all the other districts together, 4,815 tons.

Albay Province is still the leading hemp district in the Islands. A small quantity of low-quality hemp is produced in CÁpis Province (Panay Is.); collections are also made along the south-east coast of Negros Island from Dumaguete northwards and in the district of MaÚban4 on the Pacific coast of Tayabas Province (Luzon Is). For figures of Hemp Shipments, vide Chap. xxxi., “Trade Statistics.”

The highest Manila quotation for first-quality hemp (corriente) during the years 1882 to 1896 inclusive was ?17.21½ per picul, and the lowest in the same period ?6.00 per picul (16 piculs = 1 ton; 2 piculs = 1 bale), whilst specially selected lots from SorsogÓn and Marinduque fetched a certain advance on these figures.

Albay Province (local) Land Measure

During the decade prior to the commercial depression of 1884, enormous sums of money were lent by foreign firms and wealthy hemp-staplers to the small producers against deliveries to be effected. But experience proved that lending to native producers was a bad business, for, on delivery of the produce, they expected to be again paid the full value and pass over the sums long due. Hence, capital which might have been employed to the mutual advantage of all concerned, was partially withheld, and the natives complained then, as they do now, that there is no money.

Fortunately for the Philippines, the fibre known as Manila hemp is a speciality of the Colony, and the prospect of over-production, almost annihilating profits to producers—as in the sugar colonies—is at present remote, although the competition with other fibre is severe. The chief fibre-producing countries, besides this colony, are New Zealand, Mauritius, East Indies, Italy, Russia, North America (sisal) and Mexico (henequen).

In 1881 the AbacÁ plants presented to the Saigon Botanical Gardens were flourishing during the management of Mons. Coroy, but happily for this Colony the experiment, which was to precede the introduction of “Manila Hemp” into French Cochin China, was abandoned, the plants having been removed by that gentleman's successor. In 1890 “Manila Hemp” was cultivated in British North Borneo by the Labuk Planting Company, Limited, and the fibre raised on their estates was satisfactorily reported on by the Rope Works in Hong-Kong.

In view of the present scarcity of live-stock, hemp, which needs no buffalo tillage, would seem to be the most hopeful crop of the future. It will probably advance as fast as sugar cultivation is receding, and command a good remunerative price. Moreover, as already explained, not being distinctly a season crop as sugar is, nor requiring expensive machinery to produce it, its cultivation is the most recommendable to American colonists.

Coffee (Coffea arabica) planting was commenced in the Colony early in the last century. Up to 1889 plantation-owners in the Province of Batangas assured me that the trees possessed by their grandfathers were still flourishing, whilst it is well known that in many coffee-producing colonies the tree bears profitably only up to the twenty-fifth year, and at the thirtieth year it is quite exhausted. Unless something be done to revive this branch of agriculture it seems as if coffee would soon cease to be an article of export from these Islands. In the year 1891 the crops in Luzon began to fall off very considerably, in a small measure due to the trees having lost their vigour, but chiefly owing to the ravages of a worm in the stems. In 1892–93 the best and oldest-established plantations were almost annihilated. Nothing could be done to stop the scourge, and several of the wealthiest coffee-owners around Lipa, personally known to me, ploughed up their land and started sugar-cane growing in place of coffee. In 18837,451 tons of coffee were shipped, whilst in 1903 the total export did not reach four tons.

The best Philippine Coffee comes from the Provinces of Batangas, La Laguna and Cavite (Luzon Is.), and includes a large proportion of caracolillo, which is the nearest shape to the Mocha bean and the most esteemed. The temperate mountain regions of Benguet, Bontoc, and Lepanto (N.W. Luzon) also yield good coffee.

The most inferior Philippine coffee is produced in Mindanao Island, and is sent up to Manila sometimes containing a quantity of rotten beans. It consequently always fetches a lower price than Manila (i.e., Luzon) coffee, which is highly prized in the market.

Manila Quotations for the Two Qualities

Average Prices throughout the Years

Quotations later than 1891 would serve no practical purpose in the above table of comparison, as, due to the extremely small quantity produced, almost fancy prices have ruled since that date. In 1896, for instance, the market price ran up to ?35 per picul, whilst some small parcels exchanged hands at a figure so capriciously high that it cannot be taken as a quotation. For figures of Coffee Shipments, vide Chap, xxxi., “Trade Statistics.”

I investigated the system of coffee-growing and trading in all the Luzon districts, and found it impossible to draw up a correct general estimate showing the nett cost laid down in Manila market. The manner of acquiring the produce and the conditions of purchase varied so greatly, and were subject to so many peculiar local circumstances, that only an approximate computation could be arrived at.

Some of the provincial collectors had plantations of their own; others had not, whilst none of them depended entirely upon the produce of their own trees for fulfilling the contracts in the capital.

Coffee was a much more fluctuating concern than hemp, as the purchase-rate (although perhaps low) was determined out of season several months before it was seen how the market would stand for the sale of that coffee; in hemp transactions (there being practically no season for hemp) the purchase-money need only be paid on delivery of the produce by the labourer at rates proportionate to Manila prices, unless the dealer be simply a speculator, in which case, having contracted in Manila to deliver at a price, he must advance to secure deliveries to fulfil his contract. Therefore, in coffee, a provincial collector might lose something on the total year's transactions or he might make an enormous profit, if he worked with his own capital. If he borrowed the capital from Manila dealers—middlemen—as was often the case, then he might make a fortune for his Manila friends, or he might lose another year's interest on the borrowed funds.

In Cavite Province districts there was another way of negotiating coffee speculations. The dealer with capital advanced at, say, 6 or 7 pesos per picul “on joint account up to Manila.” The planter then bound himself to deliver so many piculs of coffee of the next gathering, and the difference between the advance rate and the sale price in Manila was shared between the two, after the capitalist had deducted the charges for transport, packing, commission in Manila, etc. All the risk was, of course, on the part of the capitalist, for if the crop failed the small planter had no means of refunding the advance.

On a carefully-managed plantation, a caban of land (8,000 square Spanish yards) was calculated to yield 10.40 piculs (= 12½ cwt.) of clean coffee, or, say, 9 cwt. per acre. The selling value of a plantation, in full growth, was about ?250 per caban, or, say, ?180 per acre. After 1896 this land value was merely nominal.

The trees begin to give marketable coffee in the fourth year of growth, and flourish best in hilly districts and on highlands, where the roots can be kept dry, and where the average temperature does not exceed 70° Fahr. Caracolillo is found in greater quantities on the highest declivities facing east, where the morning sun evaporates the superfluous moisture of the previous night's dew.

In the Province of Cavite there appeared to be very little system in the culture of the coffee-tree. Little care was taken in the selection of shading-trees, and pruning was much neglected. Nevertheless, very fine coffee was brought from the neighbourhood of Indan, Silan, Alfonso, and Amadeo. The Batangas bean had the best reputation in Manila; hence the Indan product was sometimes brought to that market and sold as Batangas coffee.

In Batangas the coffee-plant is usually shaded by a tree called Madrecacao (Gliricidia maculata)—TagÁlog, Galedupa pungam. On starting a plantation this tree is placed in rows, each trunk occupying one Spanish yard, and when it has attained two or three feet in height the coffee-shoot is planted at each angle. Between the third and eighth years of growth every alternate shading-tree and coffee-plant is removed, as more space for development becomes necessary. The coffee-plants are pruned from time to time, and on no account should the branches be allowed to hang over and meet. Around the wealthy town of Lipa some of the many coffee-estates were extremely well kept up, with avenues crossing the plantations in different directions.

At the end of eight years, more or less, according to how the quality of soil and the situation have influenced the development, there would remain, say, about 2,400 plants in each caban of land, or 1,728 plants per acre. Comparing this with the yield per acre, each tree would therefore give 9.33 ounces of marketable coffee, whilst in Peru, where the coffee-tree is planted at an elevation of 5,000 to 6,000 feet above sea-level, each tree is said to yield one pound weight of beans.

In the Philippines the fresh ripe berries, when thoroughly sun-dried, lose an average weight of 52 per cent. moisture.

The sun-dried berries ready for pounding (husking) give an average of 33.70 of their weight in marketable coffee-beans.

It takes eight cabanes measure (vide p. 276) of fresh-picked ripe berries to turn out one picul weight of clean beans.

Owing to the fact that one year in every five gives a short crop, due either to the nature of the plant or to climatic variations, it pays better to collect coffee from the very small growers rather than sink capital in large estates on the aparcero system (q.v.).

The coffee-plant imperatively requires shade and moisture, and over-pruning is prejudicial. If allowed to run to its natural height it would grow up to 15 to 25 feet high, but it is usually kept at 7 to 10 feet. The leaves are evergreen, very shining, oblong, leathery, and much resemble those of the common laurel. The flowers are small, and cluster in the axils of the leaves. They are somewhat similar to the Spanish jasmine, and being snow-white, the effect of a coffee plantation in bloom is delightful, whilst the odour is fragrant. The fruit, when ripe, is of a dark scarlet colour, and the ordinary coffee-berry contains two semi-elliptic seeds of a horny or cartilaginous nature glued together and enveloped in a coriaceous membrane; when this is removed each seed is found covered with a silver-grey pellicle.

The Caracolillo coffee-berry contains only one seed, with a furrow in the direction of the long axis, which gives it the appearance of being a geminous seed with an inclination to open out on one side.

In Arabia Felix, where coffee was first planted in the 15th century, and its cultivation is still extensive, the collection of the fruit is effected by spreading cloths under the trees, from which, on being violently shaken, the ripe berries fall, and are then placed upon mats to dry, after which the beans are pressed under a heavy roller.

In the Philippines, women and children—sometimes men—go into the plantations with baskets and pick the berries. The fruit is then heaped, and, in a few days, washed, so that a great portion of the pulp is got rid of. Then the berries are dried and pounded in a mortar to separate the inner membrane and pellicle; these are winnowed from the clean bean, which constitutes the coffee of commerce and is sent in bags to Manila for sale.

The Philippine plantations give only one crop yearly, whilst in the West Indies beans of unequal ripeness are to be found during eight months of the twelve, and in Brazil there are three annual gatherings.

The seed of the Tobacco-plant (Nicotiana tabacum) was among the many novelties introduced into the Philippines from Mexico by Spanish missionaries, soon after the possession of the Colony by the Spaniards was an accomplished fact. From this Colony it is said to have been taken in the 16th or 17th century into the south of China, where its use was so much abused that the sale of this so-called noxious article was, for a long time, prohibited under penalty of death.

During the first two centuries of Spanish dominion but little direct attention was paid to the tobacco question by the Government, who only nominally held, but did not assert, the exclusive right of traffic in this article. At length, in the year 1781, during the Gov.-Generalship of JosÉ Basco y Vargas (a naval officer), the cultivation and sale of tobacco was formally decreed a State monopoly, which lasted up to the end of the year 1882. In the meantime, it became an important item of public revenue. In 1882 the profits of the Tobacco Monopoly amounted to half the Colony's Budget expenditure.

A few years before that date a foreign company offered to guarantee the Budget (then about ?15,000,000), in exchange for the Tobacco Monopoly, but the proposal was not entertained, although in the same year the Treasury deficit amounted to ?2,000,000.

By Royal Decree of July 1, 1844, a contract was entered into with the firm of O'Shea & Co., renting to them the Monopoly, but it was suddenly rescinded. The annual profits from tobacco to the Government at that date were about ?2,500,000.

Government Profit

A bale of tobacco contains 4,000 leaves in 40 bundles (manos), of 100 leaves each.

The classification of the deliveries depended on the districts where the crop was raised and the length of the leaf.

The tobacco trade being also a Government concern in Spain, this Colony was required to supply the Peninsula State Factories with 90,000 quintals (of 100 Span, lbs.) of tobacco-leaf per annum.

Government Monopoly was in force in Luzon Island only. The tobacco districts of that island were CagayÁn Valley (which comprises La Isabela), La Union, El Abra, Ilocos Sur y Norte and Nueva Ecija. In no other part of Luzon was tobacco-planting allowed, except for a short period on the Caraballo range, inhabited by undomesticated mountain tribes, upon whom prohibition would have been difficult to enforce. In 1842 the Igorrotes were allowed to plant, and, in the year 1853, the Government collection from this source amounted to 25,000 bales of excellent quality. The total population of these districts was, in 1882 (the last year of Monopoly), about 785,000.

The Visayas Islands were never under the Monopoly system. The natives there were free to raise tobacco or other crops on their land. It was not until 1840 that tobacco-planting attracted general attention in Visayas. Government factories or collecting-centres were established there for classifying and storing such tobacco as the Visayos cared to bring in for sale to the State, but they were at liberty to sell their produce privately or in the public markets. They also disposed of large quantities by contraband to the Luzon Island Provinces.5

Antique Province never yielded more tobacco than could be consumed locally. In 1841 the Antique tobacco crop was valued at ?80,000. But, in the hope of obtaining higher prices, the enthusiastic Provincial Governor, Manuel Iturriaga, encouraged the growers, in 1843, to send a trial parcel to the Government collectors; it was, however, unclassed and rejected.

Mindoro, Lucban, and Marinduque Islands produced tobacco about sixty years ago, and in 1846 the Government established a collecting-centre in Mindoro; but the abuses and cruelty of the officials towards the natives, to force them to bring in their crops, almost extinguished this class of husbandry.

During the period of Monopoly in the Luzon districts, the production was very carefully regulated by the Home Government, by enactments revised from time to time, called “General Instructions for the Direction, Administration and Control of the Government Monopolies.”6 Compulsory labour was authorized, and those natives in the northern provinces of Luzon Island who wished to till the land (the property of the State)—for title-deeds were almost unknown and never applied for by the natives—were compelled to give preference to tobacco. In fact, no other crops were allowed to be raised. Moreover, they were not permitted peacefully to indulge their indolent nature—to scrape up the earth and plant when and where they liked for a mere subsistence. Each family was coerced into contracting with the Government to raise 4,000 plants per annum, subject to a fine in the event of failure. The planter had to deliver into the State stores all the tobacco of his crop—not a single leaf could he reserve for his private consumption.

Lands left uncultivated could be appropriated by the Government, who put their own nominees to work them, and he who had come to consider himself owner, by mere undisturbed possession, lost the usufruct and all other rights for three years. His right to the land, in fact, was not freehold, but tenure by villein socage.

Emigrants were sent north from the west coast Provinces of North and South Ilocos. The first time I went up to CagayÁn about 200 emigrant families were taken on board our vessel at North Ilocos, en route for the tobacco districts, and appeared to be as happy as other natives in general. They were well supplied with food and clothing, and comfortably lodged on their arrival at the Port of Aparri.

In the Government Regulations referred to, the old law of Charles III., which enacted that a native could not be responsible at law for a debt exceeding ?5, was revived, and those emigrants who had debts were only required to liquidate them out of their earnings in the tobacco district up to that legal maximum value.

As soon as the native growers were settled on their lands their condition was by no means an enviable one. A Nueva Ecija landowner and tobacco-grower, in a letter to El Liberal (Madrid) in 1880, depicts the situation in the following terms:—The planter, he says, was only allowed to smoke tobacco of his own crop inside the aËrating-sheds which were usually erected on the fields under tilth. If he happened to be caught by a carabineer only a few steps outside the shed with a cigar in his mouth he was fined 2 pesos—if a cigarette, 50 cents—and adding to these sums the costs of the conviction, a cigar of his own crop came to cost him ?7.37½, and a cigarette ?1.87½. The fines in Nueva Ecija amounted to an annual average of ?7,000 on a population of 170,000. From sunrise to sunset the native grower was subject to domiciliary search for concealed tobacco—his trunks, furniture, and every nook and corner of his dwelling were ransacked. He and all his family—wife and daughters—were personally examined: and often an irate husband, father, or brother, goaded to indignation by the indecent humiliation of his kinswoman, would lay hands on his bowie-knife and bring matters to a bloody crisis with his wanton persecutors... The leaves were carefully selected, and only such as came under classification were paid for. The rejected bundles were not returned to the grower, but burnt—a despairing sacrifice to the toiler! The Cabezas de Barangay (vide p. 223) had, under penalty of arrest and hard labour, to see that the families fulfilled their onerous contract. Corporal punishment, imprisonment, and amercement resulted; of frequent occurrence were those fearful scenes which culminated in riots such as those of Ilocos in 1807 and 1814, when many Spaniards fell victims to the natives' resentment of their oppression.

Palpable injustice, too, was imposed by the Government with respect to the payments. The Treasury paid loyally for many years, but as generation succeeded generation, and the native growers' families came to feel themselves attached to the soil they cultivated, the Treasury, reposing on the security of this constancy, no longer kept to the compact. The officials failed to pay with punctuality to the growers the contracted value of the deliveries to the State stores. They required exactitude from the native—the Government set the example of remissness. The consequence was appalling. Instead of money Treasury notes were given them, and speculators of the lowest type used to scour the tobacco-growing districts to buy up this paper at an enormous discount. The misery of the natives was so distressing, the distrust of the Government so radicate, and the want of means of existence so urgent, that they were wont to yield their claims for an insignificant relative specie value. The speculators held the bonds for realization some day; the total amount due by the Government at one time exceeded ?1,500,000. Once the Treasury was so hard-pressed for funds that the tobacco ready in Manila for shipment to Spain had to be sold on the spot and the 90,000 quintals could not be sent—hence purchases of Philippine tobacco had to be made by tender in London for the Spanish Government cigar factories.

At length, during the government of General Domingo Moriones (1877–80), it was resolved to listen to the overwhelming complaints from the North, and pay up to date in coin. But, to do this, Spain, always in a state of chronic insolvency, had to resort to an abominable measure of disloyalty. The funds of the Deposit Bank (Caja de DepÓsitos) were arbitrarily appropriated, and the deposit-notes, bearing 8 per cent. interest per annum, held by private persons, most of whom were Government clerks, etc., were dishonoured at due date. This gave rise to great clamour on the part of those individuals whose term of service had ceased (cesantes), and who, on their return to Spain, naturally wished to take their accumulated savings with them. The Gov.-General had no other recourse open to him but to reinstate them in their old positions, on his own responsibility, pending the financial crisis and the receipt of instructions from the Government at Madrid.

For a long time the question of abolishing the Monopoly had been debated, and by Royal Order of May 20, 1879, a commission was appointed to inquire into the convenience of farming out the tobacco traffic. The natives were firmly opposed to it; they dreaded the prospect of the provinces being overrun by a band of licensed persecutors, and of the two evils they preferred State to private Monopoly. Warm discussions arose for and against it through the medium of the Manila newspapers. The “Consejo de Filipinas,” in Madrid, had given a favourable report dated May 12, 1879, and published in the Gaceta de Madrid of July 13, 1879. The clergy defeated the proposal by the Corporations of Friars jointly presenting a Memorial against it—and it was thenceforth abandoned. The Tobacco Monopoly was the largest source of public revenue, hence the doubt as to the policy of free trade and the delay in granting it. There existed a possibility of the Treasury sustaining an immense and irretrievable loss, for a return to Monopoly, after free trade had been allowed, could not for a moment be thought of. It was then a safe income to the Government, and it was feared by many that the industry, by free labour, would considerably fall off.

As already stated, the Government Monopoly ceased on December 31, 1882, when the tobacco cultivation and trade were handed over to private enterprise. At that date there were five Government Cigar and Cigarette Factories, viz.:—Malabon, Arroceros, Meisig, El Fortin, and Cavite, giving employment to about 20,000 operatives.

Up to within a year of the abolition of Monopoly, a very good smokeable cigar could be purchased in the estancos7 from one half-penny and upwards, but as soon as the free trade project was definitely decided upon, the Government factories, in order to work off their old stocks of inferior leaf, filled the estancos with cigars of the worst quality.

The Colonial Treasurer-General at the time of this reform entertained very sanguine hopes respecting the rush which would be made for the Government brands, and the general public were led to believe that a scarcity of manufactured tobacco would, for some months, at least, follow the establishment of free trade in this article. With this idea in view, Government stocks sold at auction aroused competition and fetched unusually high prices at the close of 1882 and the first month of the following year, in some cases as much as 23/– per cwt. being realized over the upset prices. However, the Treasurer-General was carried too far in his expectations. He was unfortunately induced to hold a large amount of Government manufactured tobacco in anticipation of high offers, the result being an immense loss to the Treasury, as only a part was placed, with difficulty, at low prices, and the remainder shipped to Spain. In January, 1883, the stock of tobacco in Government hands amounted to about 100 tons of 1881 crop, besides the whole crop of 1882. Little by little the upset prices had to be lowered to draw buyers. The tobacco shipped during the first six months of the year 1883 was limited to that sold by auction out of the Government stocks, for the Government found themselves in a dilemma with their stores of this article, and the free export only commenced half a year after free production was granted. On December 29, 1883, a Government sale by auction was announced at 50 per cent. reduction on their already low prices, but the demand was still very meagre. Finally, in the course of 1884, the Government got rid of the bulk of their stock, the balance being shipped to the mother country. The colonial authorities continued to pay the ancient tobacco-tribute to Spain, and the first contract, with this object, was made during that year with a private company for the supply of about 2,750 tons.

During the first year of Free Trade, cigar and cigarette factories were rapidly started in Manila and the provinces, but up to 1897 only some eight or ten factories had improved the quality of the manufactured article, whilst prices rose so considerably that the general public probably lost by the reform. Cigars, like those sold in the estancos in 1881, could never again be got so good for the same price, but at higher prices much better brands were offered.

A small tax on the cigar and tobacco-leaf trade, officially announced in August, 1883, had the beneficial effect of causing the closure of some of the very small manufactories, and reduced the probability of a large over-supply of an almost worthless article.

Export-houses continued to make large shipments of leaf-tobacco and cigars until the foreign markets were glutted with Philippine tobacco in 1883, and in the following years the export somewhat decreased. For figures of Tobacco Leaf and Cigar Shipments, vide Chap, xxxi., “Trade Statistics.”

As to the relative quality of Philippine tobacco, there are very divided opinions. Decidedly the best Manila cigars cannot compare with those made from the famous leaf of the Vuelta de Abajo (Cuba), and in the European markets they have very justly failed to meet with the same favourable reception as the Cuban cigars generally.

During my first journey up the CagayÁn River, I was told that some years ago the Government made earnest efforts to improve the quality of the plant by the introduction of seed from Cuba, but unfortunately it became mixed up with that usually planted in the Philippine provinces, and the object in view failed completely. On my renewed visit to the tobacco districts, immediately after the abolition of monopoly, the importance of properly manipulating the green leaf did not appear to be thoroughly appreciated. The exact degree of fermentation was not ascertained with the skill and perseverance necessary to turn out a well-prepared article. Some piles which I tested were over-heated (taking the Java system as my standard), whilst larger quantities had been aËrated so long in the shed, after cutting, that they had lost their finest aroma.

There are many risks in tobacco-leaf trading. The leaf, during its growth, is exposed to perforation by a worm which, if not brushed off every morning, may spread over the whole field. Through the indolence of the native cultivator this misfortune happens so frequently that rarely does the CagayÁn Valley tobacco contain (in the total crop of the season) more than 10 per cent. of perfect, undamaged leaves. In the aËrating-sheds another kind of worm appears in the leaf; and, again, after the leaves are baled or the cigars boxed, an insect drills little holes through them—locally, it is said to be “picado.”

Often in the dry season (the winter months) the tobacco-leaf, for want of a little moisture, matures narrow, thick and gummy, and contains an excess of nicotine, in which case it can only be used after several years' storage. Too much rain entirely spoils the leaf. Another obstacle to Philippine cigar manufacture is the increasing universal demand for cigars with light-coloured wrappers, for which hardly two per cent. of the Philippine leaf is suitable in world competition, whilst the operative cannot handle with economy the delicate light-coloured Sumatra wrapper. The difficulties of transport are so great that it costs more to bring the finest tobacco-leaf from the field to the Manila factory than it would to send it from Manila to Europe in large parcels. The labour question is also an important consideration, for it takes several years of daily practice for a Filipino to turn out a first-class marketable cigar; the most skilful operatives can earn up to ?50 a month.

The best quality of Philippine tobacco is produced in the northern provinces of Luzon Island, the choicest selections coming from CagayÁn and La Isabela. The Provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Ilocos Sur y Norte, La Union, Nueva Ecija, and even Pampanga, yield tobacco.

In the Visayas, tobacco is cultivated in Panay Island and on the east coast of Negros Island (district of Escalante) and CebÚ Island—also to a limited extent in Mindanao. The Visaya leaf generally is inferior in quality, particularly that of Yloilo Province, some of which, in fact, is such rubbish that it is difficult to understand how a profit can be expected from its cultivation. The Escalante (Negros, E. coast) and the Barili (CebÚ W. coast) tobacco seemed to me to be the fullest flavoured and most agreeable leaf in all the Visayas.

A tobacco plantation is about as pretty as a cabbage-field.

In 1883 a company, styled The General Philippine Tobacco Company (“CompaÑia General de Tabacos de Filipinas”), formed in Spain and financially supported by French capitalists, was established in this Colony with a capital of £3,000,000. It gave great impulse to the trade by soon starting with five factories and purchasing four estates (“San Antonio,” “Santa Isabel,” “San Luis,” and “La Concepcion”), with buying-agents in every tobacco district. Up to 1898 the baled tobacco-leaf trade was chiefly in the hands of this company. Little by little the company launched out into other branches of produce-purchasing, and lost considerable sums of money in the provinces in its unsuccessful attempt to compete with the shrewd foreign merchants, but it is still a good going concern.

Prices and Weights of some of the best Cigars Manufactured in Manila packed in Boxes ready for Use or Shipment.

Cigars and cigarettes are now offered for sale in every town, village, and hamlet of the Islands, and their manufacture for the immense home consumption (which, of cigars, is about one-third of the whole output), and to supply the demand for export, constitutes an important branch of trade, giving employment to thousands of operatives.