Bananas form an important part of the food of the people, yet there is not such a thing as a real banana plantation in the islands. The average Filipino has a few plants around his house, but with many of them even this is too much trouble, and they prefer to buy the fruit at a comparatively high price in the local markets. Good bananas sell readily in Manila at half a dollar a bunch, and the best varieties bring even a higher price. The latter may be bought at ten cents a bunch in the Agusan River valley, where conditions are ideal for their successful cultivation. I recently measured a series of trunks there which ran from forty inches to four feet in circumference. Table showing the Number of Cigars removed from Manufactories for Domestic Consumption and for Export during the Past Eight Fiscal Years --------------+--------------------------------------------+------------- | Cigars Manufactured and | Fiscal Year +----------------+-------------+-------------+ ended June 30 | Consumed in | Exported | Shipped to | Total | the Philippine | to Foreign | United | | Islands | Countries | States | --------------+----------------+-------------+-------------+------------- | Number | Number | Number | Number 1906 | 74,184,537 | 94,110,336 | 231,206 | 168,526,079 1907 | 79,476,459 | 117,684,485 | 82,175 | 197,243,119 1908 | 82,986,278 | 115,738,939 | 29,570 | 198,754,787 1909 | 86,800,520 | 116,981,434 | 867,947 | 204,649,901 1910 | 89,272,890 | 109,006,765 | 87,281,673 | 285,561,328 1911 | 96,115,525 | 104,604,170 | 27,531,596 | 228,251,291 1912 | 109,924,014 | 104,476,781 | 70,518,050 | 284,918,845 1913 | 96,193,811 | 106,563,541 | 102,894,077 | 305,651,429 --------------+----------------+-------------+-------------+------------- Table showing the Number of Cigarettes removed from Manufactories for Domestic Consumption and for Export during the Past Eight Fiscal Years