By Engineer Jes Tirol
Sundry Chronicle of the Bohol ChronicleProem
In the previous issue we were informed by Gobernadorcillo Leon Torralba that the population of
Tagbilaran in 1855 was approximately 7,000 and 300 among them were mestizos. We also knew that they ate four (4) times a day and potable water was scarce. There were only four (4) businessmen and about 100 seafaring traders.
Let us proceed to the next set of questions and answers.
Set II. Information Regarding Agriculture
1. What is the measure of length and area? Answer: More than one and one-half square leagues (about 61.44 sq. km.). [Note: The land area of Tagbilaran is now 32.7 sq. km. apparently the land area given by Don Leon Torralba included the boundary up to Bacong, Cortes near the bridge located at the swamp. In late 1855 the place called Wadje (now: La Paz, Cortes) was surrendered to Cortes, Bohol for being very troublesome. The boundary was transferred to Sombria Bridge near the present Mangga Market. - JBT]
2. What is the price of foods as well as jobs? Answer: The mais (corn) is the ordinary food of the people; the usual price during harvest season is cuatro reales (note: 8 reales = 1 peso) and after that one peso (note: no quantity given). The salary is one-half real per day with meals.
3. Those who are renting land, do they pay the landlord in money or in kind? Answer: There are no lands under lease or rent.
4. How many quiñones, etc. (These Spanish measure of land area. - JBT) of land is the estimate for those unoccupied, acquired, or a mixture and those that are dry land? Answer: There are no lands that are irrigated much less adequate for irrigation and landholdings are small.
5. For how many years are the land lease and what are the principal conditions of the contract? Answer: There are no lands in lease.
6. Are there existing haciendas (big landed estate) in any form? To whom does it belong? What is the type of land? Answer: There are no haciendas.
7. What are those haciendas cultivated for? Or the other lands that are not haciendas? Answer: The lands existing are not comparable to haciendas for there are none.
8. Are the cultivated lands fenced or could not be passed through? Answer: They have fences that could not be destroyed by the force of animals.
9. Are there wastelands or communal lands? What are their products? Answer: There are no wastelands and those that are cultivated yield very little and it could not sustain the needs of the owner.
10. What is the distribution of planted lands? Answer: They are for mais (corn), camote (sweet potato), and ube (yam).
11. What are the quantity of harvest per year and their kinds? Answer: They yield very little harvest for mais, camote, and ube.
12. What is the number of cavans planted or sugarcane fingerlings used? Answer: According to my estimate, it is about ten (10) cavans of seedling due to the bad land that there is in this town.
13. What is the time for planting and when is the harvest? Answer: In the month of January the mais and camote are planted and they are harvested four (4) months later. In June (some in September) the ube is planted and harvested in January.
14. What is the number of animals employed in cultivation and what kind? Answer: There are twenty (20) carabaos.
15. How many exists (the animals - JBT) in the town and their condition? Answer: About five hundred carabaos and cows.
16. How many pigs, hens, rooster, capones (castrated), chicks, turkey, geese, pasture land, etc.? Answer: In my estimate there are about 300 pigs, 3,000 hens and 17 capones, 11,100 coco trees and 1,460 cacao trees.
17. What are the implements or farming tools used? Answer: The bolo and the kind they call puang (puwang) and very few plows.
18. What is the interest of money imposed? Are they paid in coins? When? Answer: None.
19. The food of the workers of the field, are they the same with that of the poblacion folks or are they different? Answer: The difference is that the poblacion folks eat mais (corn) with viand but majority of the field or farm workers eat camote (sweet potato) and some edible fruits that exist in the field.
20. The lands that are tilled, do they receive fertilizers? Answer: None.
21. At what time do the poblacion folks and farm folks wake up and when do they retire to sleep? Answer: They poblacion and farm folks retire at 10 o'clock at night and they wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning.
22. Of the two types, what are the family works when evening comes? Answer: Generally they are occupied with cotton products, prepare for supper, commerce, and prepare for sleep.
23. How many cotton trees, coffee trees, etc. are cultivated and what product does each one yields? Answer: There are more than 200,850 cotton trees. It yields products of more than one cate (1 lb 6 oz) per tree.
24. What method is observed for their care and benefit? Answer: They shut and lock (the doors and windows) and clean the weeds.
25. What new cultivable and useful plant can be introduced? Answer: Not possible to introduce them because the land would not permit it and the sun is very hot.
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Topic: Bohol Agriculture during the Spanish Period (Read 2921 times)