In the valley districts the planting sticks are cut as needed, but in the mountains, where the upland rice is more important, strong bamboo poles fitted with hardwood points are in general use. These implements, known as _tepon_ (Fig. 15, No. 1), are invariably carefully decorated with incised designs, and are preserved from year to year. Commonly, the divisions between the sections of the bamboo are knocked out and the tube used as a receptacle for the seed rice. As the mountain fields need special protection, it is customary to build near them little elevated houses in which the workers may rest, and in which the watchers can live during the time the grain must be guarded. If the plots are near to a village, such a house seldom consists of more than a rude framework of poles, which support a grass roof, and to which a bamboo floor is lashed, two or three feet above the ground; but if the fields are at a distance, these structures are provided with sides, and are raised high on strong logs. Such high, well built houses are necessary, both to protect the occupants from surprise attacks of enemies, and to afford shelter against driving winds or rains. It is not an uncommon occurrence for a whole family to go to one of these isolated mountain dwellings and reside for a considerable period, particularly when the rice is approaching maturity. These upland fields produce much smaller crops than do the wet lands, and as they are quickly exhausted, it is not customary to plant them to rice for more than two seasons. At the end of this time, they may be used for _camotes_ (_Convolvulus batatas_), sugar-cane, or cotton, but in the majority of cases they are allowed to lie unused for several seasons, when the grass or undergrowth is again removed and the fields replanted.