May 2, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S. W. 379 



of a frame of bamboo poles covered with abaca leaves. The stripping apparatus, or 

 " panguijan," is simple both in construction and operation. It consists of a log set in a 

 horizontal position 1 foot or 2 feet from the ground. On the top of this is fastened a 

 block of smooth hard wood. Over this block is placed a bolo having a blade about 1 foot 

 long and a handle H feet long. A rattan is attached to the end of tlu> knife and con- 

 nected with a bamboo spring above. Another rattan passes from the handle to a foot treadle. 

 The bamboo spring holds the knife down upon the block. Its pressure is easily regulated 

 bv lengthening or shoitening the rattan. By means of the foot treadle the operator raises 

 the knife when he desires to insert or remove a strip of fibre. 



Stripping Knives. 



In the process of stripping, the operator holds in his right hand one or more of the fibre 

 ribbons and also a short round piece of wood. These strips are inserted under the knife, 

 and are drawn through with a (piick, steady pull. The ribbon is then removed and 

 reversed, the cleaned end being wnund three or four times around the stick. This process 

 of drawing under the knife removes all the pulp or fleshy material, leaving in the hands 

 of the operator a small bunch of clean wet fibre. As the fibre is stripped it is usually 

 assorted into two classes. The work of fibre extraction, while apparently simple, is very 

 exhausting, even for the experienced operator, and many labourers are ruptured by the 

 excessive strain of pulling the fibre strips under the kriife. It is a fair day's work to 

 strip one arroba (-2.5 lb.), and the fibre-stripper will usually work oidy two or three days 

 a week. 



All the fibre produced in the islands is extracted with this simple apparatus. The 

 colour and strength of the fibre — two most important qualities— are determined almost 

 entirely by the manner in which it is cleaned. The two factors in tlie process which 

 attect the quality of the product are the condition of the knife-blaile and the degree of 

 pressure with which the knife is held upon the base Idock. With a serrated knife, 

 loosely fastened, the fibres are only partially separated, and only a portion of the pulp is 

 removed ; the work is easy, the yield large, and the fibre is inferior in quality. With a 

 knife having a smooth-edged blade and held firmly on the base block the work of extrac- 

 tion is much more difficult, and the waste is greater, but a very superior fibre may be 

 obtained. It has been determined by experiment that the same plant ^vill produce a 

 very superior or a very inferior grade nf fibre, depending on the kind of stripping-knife 

 used. As a result of using serrated knives the markets have been flooded with enormous 

 quantities of inferior fibre, and cordage manufacturers are continually making complaint 

 al)0ut the quality of Manila hemp. The %\hole future of the industry depending, as it 

 does, on the position which abaca continues to hold in the world's markets, it is mani- 

 festly to the interest of every producer to discourage the use of the serrated knife. 



Fibre-extracting Machinery. 



Numerous attempts have been made to extract abaca fiVire with machinery. A number 

 of the machines used have been in a measure successful, but some obstacle has always 

 prevented their coming into any general use. The greatest difficulty has been that abaca, 

 being a very long fibre, would not bear the strain of full tension while being cleaned. It 

 has been necessary to wind the fibre around a cylinder, or to hold it in two or three 

 idaces with a clutch, in order to lessen this tension. Cylinders of various kinds of 

 material have been used, but all have resulted in a discoloration of the fibre. The 

 machines thus far constructed have all been based on the old hand process of extracting 

 the fibre by stripping. Inasmuch as sisal and other vegetable fibres are now successfully 

 extracted by machinery, and as several American inventors are devoting tiieir attention 

 to the perfection of a machine for extracting al)aca, it is possible that such a machine 

 will come into use before many years. The fibre-extracting machine for abaca should be 

 simple in construction, strongi^ cheap, and portable. It must not break, tangle, discolour, 

 waste, or in any way injure the fibre. The introduction of suitable machinery will do 

 more than any other one thing to advance the interests of the abaca industry. 



After-treatment of Fibre. 



Abaca, aftei' being stripped, is hung on bamboo poles to dry. This drying takes 

 from three to four hours to two days. When tlioroughly dry, the fibre is collected, tied 

 up in hanks or bundles, and in this condition is shipped by ponies, carabaos, or carga- 

 dores, to the nearest market. It is there sold to a Chinese middleman, or to the 

 representative of some one of the large exporting firms of Manila. When the fibre 

 reaches the warehouse of the exporter it is carefully sorted into the different commercial 

 grades, and is then baled, each bale weighing 2 piculs, or 27-") lb. 



