ABSTRACT
The different cropping systems provided different opportunities for smallholders and landlords
to consolidate their positions. Manila hemp and coconuts yield produce, and thus a steady
income, the whole year through (Miller 1932: 173), enabling smallholders to retain their land. In areas with a long dry season, farming families could harvest only one rice crop per year and
therefore had difficulties bridging the period till the next harvest. They were thrown back on
outside support in the form of credit from landlords or moneylenders. In these areas many pioneer
settlers slipped back into the position of sharecropper for a hacienda owner. In areas with a longer
wet season or with natural water sources, a second crop could be grown during the dry season,
enabling smallholders to hold on to their possessions.
