VEGETABLE FIBERS OF PHILIPPINES. 



229 



fully appreciated throughout the civilized world. The more extensive 

 cultivation of the cotton tree in the Philippine Islands is greatly to be 

 desired, as the development of this industry will add another valuable 

 commercial fiber to the list of our exported products. 



Nipa, Nipa fruticans. 



One of the most widely known of all Philippine objects is the 

 nipa house, or ' shack.' The material used for the construction of this 

 house is the fibrous leaf of the nipa palm. This palm grows along 

 the shores and in the deltas of rivers. Its leaf, consisting of a long 



Fig. 



The Bukki Palm. 



midrib bearing a large number of slender leaflets, is similar in 

 structure and appearance to the leaf of the cocoanut. When the plant 

 is fully grown the leaves are cut and the leaflets stripped from the 

 stem. These leaflets are bent over a piece of bamboo, sewed together 

 with fine strips of rattan, and thus made into small mats or shingles. 

 The nipa mats are laid on the sides and roofs of houses in the same 

 manner as shingles, and are fastened down with strips of bamboo. A 

 house built of this material can be constructed in a few days and, 

 under ordinary conditions, will last from five to seven years. It is 

 cheap, cool and in every way suited to the climatic conditions of the 

 country. 



The nipa palm has several other uses. Its fruit is edible and the 



