226 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



aloe-like cluster of from twenty to forty fleshy leaves. These leaves 

 are light green in color, bear sharp lateral teeth and a terminal spine, 

 and are from three to five feet long. The leaf is composed of pulpy 

 material interspersed with the vascular bundles which furnish the fiber. 

 When the plant matures, which requires from seven to fifteen years, 

 a central stalk, or ' pole,' grows to a height of fifteen to twenty feet. 

 This stalk first bears flowers and afterward a large number of small 

 bulbs. The growth of the ' pole ' is followed by the death of the plant. 

 The process of fiber extraction consists in separating the fibro- 

 vascular bundles from the pulpy portion of the leaf. Where machines 

 are used for this work, the leaf is run under the surface of rapidly 

 revolving wheels or rollers which scrape the pulp from the fiber. In 

 the Philippines the fiber is extracted by the process known as ' retting.' 

 The mature leaves are harvested and tied in bunches. These bunches 

 are then placed in the streams and rivers, where they are allowed to 

 remain under water for eight or ten days. This ' retting,' or rotting, 

 results in the disintegration of the substances which surround the 

 filaments. After the leaves have been sufficiently retted they are re- 

 moved from the water, dried in the sun, and are then shaken and 

 beaten to remove all extraneous material that may still adhere to the 

 fiber. This retting process is slow, expensive, and gives an inferior 

 quality of fiber. Improved fiber-extracting machinery has recently 

 been imported into the Philippine Islands and the general use of such 

 machinery should give a decided stimulus to the maguey industry. 



Cotton, Gossypium sp. 



Cotton has been grown in the Philippine Islands for hundreds of 

 years. In 1601 three hundred pieces of ' Ilocos cloth ' were sent from 

 Manila to the Moluccas, and throughout the earliest Spanish records 

 of the islands we find frequent references to cotton and cotton-grow- 

 ing. At one time the production of this fiber occupied a position of 

 considerable importance and domestic cotton was an article of inter- 

 island trade, but the importation of cheap cotton goods was followed 

 by a decline of the local industry and it has never regained its former 

 position. The Spanish authorities endeavored to foster the industry 

 by means of ordinances and government regulations, but without any 

 appreciable results. To-day we find small ' patches ' of cotton scat- 

 tered throughout the islands from northern Luzon to southern 

 Mindanao. Occasional shipments of a few bales each are received 

 every year in Manila, principally from the province of Ilocos. In 

 many different towns and villages small quantities of cotton are 

 collected, cleaned by -hand and woven into a coarse cloth. There is 

 nothing in the archipelago at the present time, however, worthy of 

 being called a cotton-growing industry. 



There is every reason why the cultivation of this plant should be 



