330 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 5 



lapping leaf stems and which bear at the top large spreading leaf 

 blades from 3 to 6 feet long and about 12 inches wide. The fiber is 

 obtained from the outer portion of each successive leaf stem. The 

 color of the stalk ranges in the different varieties from a light green to 

 dark purple or nearly black. When mature, a flower stalk about 2 

 inches in diameter is pushed up through the center of the abaca stalk, 

 bearing at the top flowers which are followed by green fruits similar 

 to small bananas but filled with black seeds. Abaca plants grown from 

 seeds ordinarily do not come true to type, and the usual method of 

 propagation is by the use of rootstocks or suckers. Abaca requires a 

 warm, moist, tropical climate, and a deep, fertile, and well-drained 

 soil. 



ABACA FIBER 



In the classification of fibers, abaca is included in the group of so- 

 called hard fibers, which are obtained from the leaves and leaf stems 

 of plants. Abaca is a multicelled long fiber consisting of cylindrical 

 strands of fibrovascular bundles. Philippine abaca fiber of "excellent" 

 cleaning is ordinarily from 6 to 12 feet in length, white to light ochre 

 in color, lustrous, strong, and of clean, even texture. Western Hemi- 

 sphere abaca fiber, which will be machine-cleaned, will range in length 

 from 4 to G feet and will be somewhat less uniform in color than the 

 Philippine fiber. It will have, however, the same basic qualities of 

 exceptional strength and resistance to the action of salt water that 

 are characteristic of Philippine abaca. The combination of strength, 

 durability, and water resistance makes abaca the most valuable known 

 fiber for marine cordage. It is also extensively used for transmission 

 and hoisting rope, well-drilling cordage, and for many other purposes 

 where exceptional strength and durability are required. 



HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 



The documents of the Venetian, Antonio Pigafetta, who was one of 

 the companions of Magellan in the first circumnavigation of the globe, 

 include a description of the Island of Zubu (Cebu). This is followed 

 by a list of "Words of those heathen people," which includes the fol- 

 lowing : "For the cloth with which they cover themselves — Abaca." In 

 1686 Capt. William Dampier, an Englishman, visited the Island of 

 Mindanao, and the records of this voyage contain a description of the 

 production and use of "plantain" fiber. There is also a reference to 

 plaintains of another variety, possibly abaca, on that island which are 

 full of black seeds. There are occasional references to the use of 

 abaca fiber by the Spaniards in the Philippines during the seventeenth 

 and eighteenth centuries, and in 1820 a sample of abaca fiber was 

 brought to Salem, Mass., by John White, a lieutenant in the United 



