VEGETABLE FIBERS OF PHILIPPINES. 223 



stitutes more than two thirds of the total value of all exported products. 

 Its position is indicated by the following table. 



Exports from the Philippixe Islands for the Year 1903. 



Per cent, of Total 



Article. Value. Exports. 



Manila hemp $21,701,575 66 



Copra 4,473,020 14 



Sugar 3,955,508 12 



Tobacco 1,882,012 5 



All other 1,109,596 _3 



$33,121,780 100 



The production of manila hemp is a well-established and very 

 profitable industry, the development of which requires only an im- 

 provement in methods of cultivation and the introduction of fiber- 

 extracting machinery. Maguey is a comparatively new product, and 

 its value is not as yet well known throughout the islands. Cotton 

 and kapok (tree cotton) are widely distributed and have a general 

 local use. Coir (cocoanut fiber) is produced in enormous quantities, 

 but is not utilized, because of the lack of fiber-extracting machinery. 

 Jute grows in several of the provinces, but is not produced in quanti- 

 ties sufficient for export. These six vegetable fibers, which are among 

 the most important commercial fibers of the world, are all Philippine 

 products, and can be economically and profitably produced throughout 

 the archipelago. 



Classification of Fibers. 



Vegtable fibers may be classified either according to their structure 

 or to their uses. The former classification includes the 'bast fibers,' 

 obtained from the inner bark of dicotyledonous plants ; the ' structural 

 fibers,' obtained from the stalks, leaf stems and leaves of monocoty- 

 ledonous plants ; the ' surface fibers,' or hair-like growths surrounding 

 the seeds of certain plants, and the ' woody fibers/ consisting of the 

 whole or a part of the stems, roots or wood of various plants. 



Any economic classification is unsatisfactory for the reason that 

 the same fiber frequently has several entirely different uses. Thus, 

 for example, manila hemp, primarily a cordage fiber, is extensively 

 used in the Philippines for textile purposes; while cotton, a textile 

 fiber, is also used for cordage. Considering only their more important 

 uses, we have the following general economic divisions, together with 

 one or more of the leading Philippine fibers of each division. 



Cordage fibers. Plaiting and Thatch Material. 



Abaca. Nipa. 



Maguey. Burri. 



Textile Fibers. Tie Material. 



Cotton. The Rattans. 



Pina. Malobago. 



Stuffing and Filling Material. Abaca (Manila Hemp), Mitsa textilis. 



Kapok (tree cotton). 



