THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS The Philippine Islands, which are believed to number over 1,400, have an area of about 127,000 square miles. Luzon, the largest, covers 41,000 square miles, while Mindaflao is not much smaller. Of the others, Cebu, Negros, Leyte, and Panay may be mentioned. Most of the islands are mountainous, and volcanic activity has everywhere been great. The mean annual temperature is about 80° F., and at Manila the range is from 77° F. in January to 84° F. in May. The mean precipitation varies from 40 to 100 inches, or more, according to position with regard to the rain-bearing winds. The population is chiefly of Malay stock and numbers about 8,000,000.
Over one-half of the land is still forested, and nearly two-fifths of it is covered with the cogon grass which has grown up where the trees have been destroyed by fire in order to effect clearings. Only about five per cent, of the total area is ever under cultivation at one time. The forests are believed to contain valuable building and cabinet woods in addition to rubber, cutch, and other products. Agriculture has hitherto been carried on by very primitive methods, but efforts are being made by the Government to develop it. Rice
is the principal food crop, but it is not grown in sufficient quantities to meet the home demand, and large quantities have to be imported. Owing, probably, to some reason connected with the soil, the Philip pines have a monopoly of the cultivation of the plant (Musa textilis) from which Manila hemp is obtained, and that article accounts for over one-third of the exports of the archipelago. At present it is grown in those districts on the Pacific slope of the islands where the rainfall is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, but the area under cultivation is being extended. Copra, obtained from the coconut palms, which grow everywhere, but flourish best near the coast, ranks second in importance to hemp. Within recent years considerable attention has been given to the production of sugar, more especially in the islands of Negros and Panay, and the amount exported is steadily increasing. Tobacco is grown mainly in the valley of the Cagayan river in northern Luzon, and cigars are manufactured at Manila. Over 40 per cent. of the trade is now with the United States. Manila is the chief port.