1. Olofson (1984) has written at length on the door-yard gardens of the Ikalahan (Kallahan) of the southeastern margin of the Cordillera. These are structurally similar to the prewar Buguias gardens, but there are several important differences. For example, the residents of Imugan studied by Olofson do not spread hog manure in their gardens (1984:318) as did the people of Buguias. [BACK]

2. Keesing and Keesing (1934) and others have hypothesized that the first Cordilleran terraces were devoted to taro, with rice a later replacement. Taro is a ritually important plant in many Cordilleran villages (including

Buguias), and it probably also predated sweet potatoes as the dry-field staple. Among one small group, the I'wak of the southeastern Cordillera, taro (both wet- and especially dry-grown) is to this day the primary crop (see Peralta 1982). [BACK]

3. Tapang (1985:18) writes that branding was introduced to southern Benguet by the Spaniards. If it reached Buguias during this period, it is no longer remembered. But it may simply not have spread to Buguias until a later date, since the Spaniards exercised significantly less control in the northern part of the province than they did in the south. [BACK]

4. Gohl (1981:114) claims that Themeda triandra has poor nutritive value, is easily overgrazed when young, is unpalatable when mature, and that Themeda pastures are of low carrying capacity. Purseglove (1972:128), however, describes it as a valuable fodder, although he also states that it will not support truly heavy grazing. [BACK]

5. According to one story commonly told in Buguias, American authorities scattered Eupatorium seeds from airplanes (planes were first seen in the same year that the weed appeared). Other evidence points to a purposeful introduction by a German landscape architect named "Sankhul" employed by the Americans to help "beautify" Baguio City. Sankhul evidently wanted a plant that could outcompete the indigenous grasses, and thus lessen the dry-season fire hazard (Lizardo 1955:220). Eupatorium served this purpose moderately well; Sankhul presumably never considered the potential damage to cattle raising. [BACK]

6. Recent Amazonian research has brought into question many common assumptions regarding swidden agriculture, especially the notion that swiddens mimic tropical forest successional patterns (see Beckerman 1983). Many Amazonian swiddens are characterized not by intercropping but rather by monocropped, albeit multivarietal, concentric rings—a pattern that also existed in modified form in prewar Buguias. Stocks (1983) and Beckerman (1984) explain such patterns largely in reference to insect and shading problems. Stocks further shows that the most nitrogen-demanding plants are typically placed on the swidden margins, while undemanding plants are typically relegated to the poorer center area. Buguias uma fields fit this model reasonably well, as center area was usually devoted to the undemanding sweet potato, while heavier feeders were more often placed along the edges.

These correlations are provocative, but the different environmental conditions of Amazonian swiddens and Buguias dry fields may indicate that such resemblances are fortuitous. According to local experts, umas were structured as they were primarily for ease of working and scheduling. Interplanting of other crops with sweet potatoes was, however, avoided for reasons of soil fertility. [BACK]

7. The 1903 official census enumerates only the "civilized population," that of Buguias being counted as "1" (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1905, v. 2:144). A more legitimate figure may be obtained from the Philippine Commission Report, 1901, Appendix FF. In this tabulation the figure for Lo-o must be added to that of Buguias, as these two areas were later consoli-

dated into a single municipal district. Even these latter figures are, however, suspect. An 1896 Spanish survey (Appendix II, same volume), for example, lists Lo-o as having some 916 inhabitants (whereas an 1887 census had counted 1,105), yet the Americans in 1901 found only 315 residents (Buguias did not report in this census). Such a precipitous population drop is unlikely. The problems here are several, but especially significant were the unwillingness of the people to cooperate with the enumerators (for good reason) and the continually changing "municipal" boundaries. For the 1948 population figures, see Republic of the Philippines 1954, pt. i:53. [BACK]

8. Pollisco-Botengan et al. (1985:16) attribute the permanence of dry fields in Ambassador (Tublay municipality) to rough topography, legal classification as critical watershed, and time constraints of local farmers. These factors are no doubt important, but in prewar Buguias ecological considerations were primary. [BACK]