eS 
8 ht hee a ft a ee 
comparison the measurements of many well-known commercial fibers 
are also given. 
The microphotographs depict the fibers both in transverse and longi- 
tudinal sections. The relative widths of the fiber walls and central 
canals as well as their rounded or polygonal forms and the shape of the 
tips, are clearly illustrated. 
DIRT AND FOREIGN MATTER IN ABACA WASTE. 
The cleanness of the raw material is an important consideration with 
paper makers. Foreign substances, such as sand, do not disappear in 
the pulping process and appear to be multiplied in the bleached and 
beaten half stuff. 
In this respect abacd waste as it is ordinarily collected becomes very 
much contaminated. The greater part of this accumulation of foreign 
matter can be avoided if extra care is taken in the stripping of the 
fibers, but even then the waste would need to be thoroughly dusted at 
the factory and either picked over by hand or cleaned by machinery, 
according to the methods used for the preparation of dirty rags and rope. 
The Philippine Islands are the home of real Manila paper stock. The 
qualities which give to abacd its prominent position among the fibers of 
the world—i. e., its strength and durability—make it a source of paper 
stock par excellence. The same conditions which confront paper manu- 
facturers in other parts of the world are to be met here. The material 
must be collected from widely scattered localities, but with improved 
means of transportation it seems possible that this waste from abaca 
could be baled and shipped to market along with the cordage fiber. ‘This 
will soon be the case when it becomes generally known that a product 
which has hitherto been a total loss will command from 1 to 2 cents a 
pound and the result will be to augment the revenues of the Manila hemp 
industry by millions of dollars annually. 
PLANTAINS AND BANANAS. 
Two other species of the family of plants to which abaca belongs 
. > 
namely, the banana (Musa sapientum) and plantain (Musa paradisiaca), 
are worth considering in regard to their availability for paper stock. 
The Philippines and the Indian Archipelago are regarded as the regions 
richest in bananas. 
This highly important fruit grows in every province and inhabited island of 
the Philippines, both in the wild and cultivated state, and numbers over fifty 
species. The statistics regarding its production and area are interesting only 
as indicating the extent to which the natural, spontaneous growth has been sup- 
plemented and added to by such industry as the natives have exerted in setting 
out plants in the vicinity of their houses, which after planting receive very little, 
if any, attention in the way of real cultivation. 
* Report of the Philippine Census (1905), 4. 
