FOREWORD. 



The first edition of this bulletin is a preliminary one. 

 No attempt is made to treat industrial fiber plants exhaus- 

 tively. The botanical description has been made as non- 

 technical as possible and the preparation and uses of fibers 

 have been discussed so as to give a general idea of their 

 treatment and possibilities. The publication is intended 

 primarily to serve superintendents and teachers as some- 

 thing definite and tangible on which to base suggestions, 

 criticisms, and improvements. If errors have crept in they 

 should be reported to the General Office, so that any future 

 edition may be as accurate and as adapted to Philippine 

 needs as superintendents and teachers in the Bureau of 

 Education can make it. It is especially desired that a care- 

 ful check be made of all plant names given and that fiber 

 plants of economic value not described in this bulletin be 

 reported. 



No definite rules have been adopted in this bulletin for 

 the spelling of native names. The most common way of 

 spelling a word as shown in the correspondence of teachers 

 with the General Office, Bureau of Education, has been 

 adopted for the present. 



The bulletin was prepared under the direction of Mr. 

 Charles H. Magee, Assistant Director of Education, by 

 Mr. Theodore Muller, in charge of the industrial museum, 

 Bureau of Education. On a number of matters relating 

 to the bulletin, the writer had the advice and assistance 

 of Mr. Hugo H. Miller, head of the department of industrial 

 information, Bureau of Education. 



The botanical specimens which were sent in by the field 

 to the Bureau of Education in response to Circular No. 175, 

 series 1910, and which form the basis for this bulletin, 

 were determined at the Bureau of Science. 



9 



