REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XXIIT 



improved methods of handling the crop have been introduced. The 

 hemp is nearly all cut by hand, and after much laborious handling- in 

 the process of curing and retting it is broken on a hand brake. In 

 Nebraska, where the industrj' is being established, a new and impor- 

 tant step has been taken in cutting the crop with an ordinary mowing 

 machine. A simple attachment, which bends the stalks over in the 

 direction in which the machine is going, facilitates the cutting. The 

 work is regarded as not much more difficult than that of cutting clover 

 or alfalfa, and one man with a span of ordinary farm horses and a mow- 

 ing machine that has a 5-foot or a 6-foot cutting bar will mow about 10 

 acres per day. The cost of cutting hemp in this manner is 50 cents 

 per acre, as compared with |3 to $4 per acre, the rates paid for cutting 

 by hand in Kentucky. 



The hemp, after being mowed, is left where it falls until retted, 

 except where it is especial!}' heav}". In that case it is necessary to 

 turn it to secure uniformity in curing and retting. It is then raked 

 up and taken to the mill, where the fiber is extracted by means of a 

 series of fluted rollers and beaters. By these methods hemp tow is 

 produced nearh^ equal in value to Kentucky rough hemp, and at a 

 total cost, exclusive of rent of land, of about $20 instead of $45 per 

 ton. 



THE UTILIZATION OF FLAX STRAW. 



Efforts are being made to utilize the fiber contained in the thousands 

 of tons of flax straw produced from the flax raised for seed in the 

 Dakotas and Minnesota. Heretofore most of this straw has been 

 burned to get it out of the way. Now large quantities, after being 

 cut and thrashed in the ordinary manner, are subjected to a breaking- 

 process which produces a fiber of excellent quality for paper pulp 

 and also a fair grade of fiber for textile purposes. During the past 

 season satisfactory results have been obtained in the use of North 

 Dakota flax for the manufacture of binding twine. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE SISAL INDUSTRY. 



The demand for sisal for the manufacture of binding twine is rapidly 

 increasing, owing largelv to the advent of the corn binder. The sisal 

 plant is veiy exacting in regard to the conditions under which it may 

 be cultivated successfully, and, as the areas having the proper condi- 

 tions for its growth are comparatively limited, it is of the utmost 

 importance to our American consumers of binding twine, as well as to 

 the fiber producers in our tropical territories, that land suitable for 

 the growth of the sisal plant be utilized so far as possible. These facts 

 have been accentuated by the high prices paid for sisal fiber during the 

 past year. A brief investigation has been made of the sisal industry 

 in the Bahamas, where the conditions are somewhat similar to those in 



