ressure 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, 37 1/2 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 Sorsogon, especially Gubat, 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 Sorsogon, 32,000 tons; in Leyte, 16,000 tons; in
Samar, 9,000 tons; in Camarines, 4,500 tons; in Mindanao, 4,000 tons;
in Cebu, 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 Capis Province
(Panay Is.); collections are also made along the south-east coast of
Negros Island