COCONUT OIL EXPORTED, 1913-1922_Beautiful Philippines: A Handbook of General Information

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| To all countries | To the United States

+------------+-----------+---------+----------+-----------+----------+----------

| | | | | | |

| | | kilos | | | | oil

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| | | | | | |

1913 | 5,010,429| 2,292,678| 457.58 | 2.40 | 4,805,384| 2,190,876| 96.56

1914 | 11,943,329| 5,238,366| 438.60 | 5.38 | 11,896,975| 5,214,326| 99.54

1915 | 13,464,169| 5,641,003| 418.96 | 5.24 | 13,367,932| 5,609,263| 99.44

1916 | 16,091,169| 7,851,469| 487.94 | 5.61 | 15,307,429| 7,388,748| 94.11

1917 | 45,198,415| 22,818,294| 504.85 | 11.93 | 45,045,690|22,755,319| 99.72

1918 | 115,280,847| 63,328,317| 549.33 | 23.42 |113,524,729|62,198,528| 98.22

1919 | 139,942,612| 73,719,504| 526.78 | 32.59 | 85,376,904|45,797,329| 62.12

1920 | 77,571,405| 46,537,773| 599.93 | 15.40 | 71,944,801|43,366,086| 93.18

1921 | 90,292,242| 32,103,036| 355.55 | 18.22 | 80,504,458|27,907,379| 86.98

1922 | 107,208,191| 31,468,971| 293.63 | 16.46 |106,645,477|31,288,505| 99.43

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[Copra meal]

Another by-product of the coconut oil is known as copra meal. It is

the meal remaining after most of the oil has been expressed. This is

used as cattle feed in Germany and Denmark.

[Soap]

Recently, certain corporations in the Philippines have gone so far

as to use their oil to manufacture many of the varied products which

were formerly made only in the United States and Europe. Soap was the

first product to be manufactured locally. There are two companies now,

however, which manufacture lard substitutes under their own trade

names. There is an attempt also to manufacture coconut butter for

sale in the islands.

[Desiccated Coconut]

The manufacture of desiccated coconut is an infant industry in the

Philippine Islands. The demand for this in Europe and particularly

in the United States is very large and is mostly filled by Ceylon or

by factories in the United States which import the whole nuts from

the West Indies. Last year, however, the desiccated coconut from the

Philippines gained a strong foot-hold in the United States and it

is expected that Ceylon will be ousted from this field in the near

future due to the free trade relations between the United States

and the Philippines. On desiccated coconut imported into the United

States from foreign countries, a duty of 3 1/2 per cent is levied. At

present there are six factories of desiccated coconut in the Islands.

[Coir]

Another opportunity for development lies in the use of coir, the tough

fiber of the husk surrounding the nut. In other countries this is

worked up into door mats, rope, twine, etc., but in the Philippines

the husks are usually burned as fuel except in a few instances where

they are utilized for domestic purposes. It is also possible that

some day other minor parts of the palm may be used. At present the

midribs of the palm leaflets are used in making brooms and baskets,

but the demand for exports is still small.

The exportation of copra from 1913 to 1922 is as follows:

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| To all countries | To the United States

+------------+-----------+---------+----------+-----------+----------+----------

| | | | | | |

--------------+------------+-----------+---------+----------+-----------+----------+----------

| | | | | | |

1913 | 82,219,363 | 19,091,448| 232.20 | 19.98 |10,027,813 | 2,398,166| 12.56

1914 | 87,344,695 | 15,960,540| 182.73 | 16.39 |18,181,371 | 3,212,266| 20.13

1915 |139,092,902 | 22,223,109| 159.77 | 20.65 |21,217,754 | 3,520,090| 15.84

1916 | 72,277,164 | 14,231,941| 196.90 | 10.17 |35,470,438 | 7,079,128| 49.74

1917 | 92,180,326 | 16,654,301| 180.67 | 8.71 |68,253,929 |12,235,902| 73.47

1918 | 55,061,736 | 10,377,029| 188.46 | 3.84 |55,061,641 |10,377,011| 99.99

1919 | 25,094,027 | 8,839,376| 352.25 | 3.91 | 2,313,967 | 818,246| 9.26

1920 | 25,803,044 | 7,433,741| 288.10 | 2.46 | 1,433,311 | 382,409| 5.14

1921 |150,335,314 | 26,146,918| 173.92 | 14.84 |52,928,570 | 8,665,554| 33.14

1922 |173,051,980 | 28,206,146| 162.99 | 14.76 |89,358,118 |14,495,014| 51.00

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Until the production of copra in the Philippines is much higher

than at present, it will be impossible to keep all the expellers

and presses now installed working at full capacity. It is therefore

proposed to start a campaign for the planting of quick-growing crops

of oil-bearing seeds. Among the plants that were most popular at first

was the tañgan-tañgan, or castor bean. This grows very rapidly and

yields a very high percentage of castor oil, which was sold at high

prices during the war as a lubricant for aeroplanes and other delicate

machinery. At the present writing, however, it is generally thought

that the mills will do better if they can turn to the production of

peanut oil, using imported peanuts to begin with and enlarging the

return as the domestic yield increases.

Sugar.--Cane-sugar ranks first among the islands' agricultural exports.

As early as 1795 the United States have been importing sugar from

the Philippine Islands; for that year 132 long tons were imported.

Up to the middle of the nineteenth century, however, the production of

sugar-cane in the Philippines was confined largely to the provinces of

Luzon near Manila. But shortly after the Crimean war the demand for

sugar in Europe increased, and interest in the industry was greatly

stimulated in the Islands. This resulted in the extension of the

industry into the Visayan Islands, Occidental Negros becoming the

largest cane producing section of the Archipelago, and so continues

until the present day.

As late as 1914 most of the sugar produced in the Islands was

muscovado. It was not until the establishment of modern sugar centrals

that centrifugal sugar was produced. The production of sugar became

so stimulated as a result, and in 1922, as many as 455,404,427 kilos

were produced. There are now 28 sugar centrals in the Islands as

against one in 1910, and several are in process of construction.

The following table shows the growth of the sugar industry from 1913

to 1922:

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Year | Area under | Production | Total value

|cultivation | of sugar | of sugar

| | | products

------+------------+------------+------------

| Acres | Short tons |

| | |

1913 | 435,188 | 345,080 | $12,849,000

1914 | 418,676 | 408,343 | 14,314,000

1915 | 427,710 | 421,196 | 16,606,000

1916 | 444,189 | 412,278 | 17,068,000

1917 | 459,436 | 425,270 | 19,352,500

1918 | 507,818 | 474,750 | 20,579,500

1919 | 494,692 | 453,350 | 37,231,400

1920 | 487,783 | 466,917 | 79,648,600

1921 | 596,363 | 589,443 | 48,189,500

1922 | 595,066 | 533,194 | 29,974,125

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The quantity and value of the exportation of this product is shown

below:

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| To all countries | To the United States

+------------+-----------+---------+----------+-----------+----------+----------

| | | | | | |

--------------+------------+-----------+---------+----------+-----------+----------+----------

| | | | | | |

1913 |157,333,707 |14,065,778 | 89.40 | 14.72 | 30,716,886| 3,128,072| 22.24

1914 |236,498,001 |22,119,186 | 93.53 | 22.71 |168,530,115|16,483,706| 74.62

1915 |211,012,817 |22,620,430 | 107.20 | 21.02 | 82,841,168|10,283,159| 45.46

1916 |337,490,000 |37,175,185 | 110.12 | 26.58 |131,885,246|17,267,401| 46.45

1917 |205,908,492 |24,555,357 | 119.25 | 12.84 | 62,377,758|10,811,518| 44.08

1918 |273,258,396 |31,608,780 | 115.67 | 11.69 |106,080,676|16,559,780| 52.39

1919 |136,060,322 |30,415,701 | 223.55 | 13.44 | 32,159,363| 7,717,934| 25.37

1920 |180,340,670 |99,238,520 | 550.28 | 32.83 |123,947,209|78,697,869| 79.30

1921 |289,876,164 |51,037,454 | 176.07 | 28.96 |150,478,581|33,752,357| 66.13

1922 |362,071,661 |51,165,110 | 141.31 | 26.77 |244,851,617|40,020,490| 78.22

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Tobacco--The Manila cigar.--The Manila cigar is just as well known

to the world as the Manila hemp. It is among the few manufacturing

enterprises that have developed factory conditions in the Islands.

[History]

For generations the Spaniards conducted the tobacco business in the

Philippines on the basis of Government monopoly. The monopoly came

to an end in 1882 when the Filipino workers defied both the Spanish

government and those directing the work in the factories because of

the harsh and cruel treatment they were getting.

Thereafter, for many years, the tobacco business suffered extreme

depression, and it was not until American occupation that the industry

received anything of a stimulus. The Manila cigar, however, was then

at a disadvantage in comparison with cigars from other countries,

because the latter were allowed a discount from the tariff, while

the Manilas were required to pay the full customs duty.

With the establishment of free trade, however, between the islands

and the United States the Manila cigar has been able to compete

with other cigars in the United States, by far the greatest market

therefor. This fact accounts for the unprecedented steady increase of

the amount of cigars exported from the islands. In 1904 the exports

amounted to 104,753,000 cigars, valued at P2,011,790. In 1919 the

exports had risen to 392,339,000 worth P18,157,707.

[The Tobacco Region]

Although tobacco is grown in many parts of the islands, all that which

is exported comes from the Provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Nueva

Vizcaya, in northern Luzon. All grown elsewhere is consumed locally,

also exported to European and other countries. The tobacco growing

districts in these three provinces lie in the valley of the Cagayan

River, a stream which is about 160 miles long. The valley is from 2

to 14 miles wide. During the rainy season, which is between the time

that one crop is harvested and the next one planted, the Cagayan River

rises to a height of 40 feet inundating all of the lowlands. This

overflow never fails, and it always leaves on the valley a deposit

of rich soil, renewing the fertility of the entire valley and making

the use of fertilizers unnecessary. On one field in Cagayan Valley,

crops have been produced without interruption and without fertilizer

for one hundred and thirty-five years.

[Government control and Guaranty]

No cigar in the world today is produced under such carefully prepared

and rigidly enforced regulations as the Manila cigar. The Philippine

government has assumed control of the industry, has established

invariable standards of excellence, and has guaranteed the production

under its own official stamp. If you will examine the next box of

Manila cigars you see, you will find that it bears a label stating

that its contents are guaranteed by the Philippine government. One of

the regulations enforced provides that, under certain limitations,

cigars which reach the American dealer in a damaged condition may

be returned to the Philippines at the expense of the Philippine

government. Another regulation is to the following effect:

"To be up to the standard established by the Government,

Philippine cigars are required to be made from good, clean,

selected tobacco, properly cured and seasoned, exclusively the

product of the Provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Nueva Vizcaya,

well made with suitable spiral wrapper and with long filler from

which must have been removed all stems dust, scrap or sun-burned

tobacco; cigars to be properly assorted and packed in clean

receptacles of wood not before used, manufactured from native

wood known as Calantas or from imported cedar. No cigars made

between sunset and sunrise may be graded as standard."

[The Cigar Factories]

The factories in which the Manila cigars are made are worth

visiting. They are counted among the show-places of the city. Visitors

are always welcome and given an opportunity to follow the entire

process of manufacture from the time the bales of tobacco reach the

warehouses until the finished cigars are packed in air-tight cases

for shipment to all parts of the world.

In these factories every precaution is taken to guard against dirt

and disease. No one is employed except after a searching physical

examination and thereafter all the employees are regularly examined

twice a month. Every now and then, government inspectors visit the

factories, and these have a right to condemn a lot of cigars which

they do not think is up to the standard.

No scraps of any kind are used in the making of Manila cigars. There

are no broken leaves and no dust. There is nothing in the cigar but

long, clean leaves of tobacco. The Manila cigar is the mildest made. It

is the most pleasant and satisfying smoke that can be had at any price.