ABACA (MANILA HEMP) — EDWARDS 345 



prepared. At that time the industrial depression was well under way, 

 the future of the world fiber markets was uncertain, and the outlook 

 was not sufficiently favorable to justify further expansion of the abaca 

 plantings. As there was no improvement in these conditions, all the 

 work with abaca at Almirante, except an occasional cleaning of the old 

 fields, was discontinued for a period of nearly 6 years. 



THE INTERIM PERIOD 



The prospects for any immediate resumption of the work with abaca 

 in Panama were far from bright at this time, but an effort could still 

 be made to maintain a continued interest in the project. In June 1931 

 the United Fruit Co. extended an invitation to the Cordage Institute 

 and the United States Department of Agriculture to send a commis- 

 sion to Panama for the purpose of inspecting and reporting on the 

 abaca situation at Almirante. This inspection was made during July, 

 and in a subsequent communication from the manufacturers to the 

 United Fruit Co. the following statement was made : 



The manufacturers are now convinced that abaca will grow in Panama and 

 are very much impressed by the luxuriant growth of the plants and the quality of 

 the fiber. How it should be cleaned, the cost of necessary machinery and equip- 

 ment, what markets are available, the probable price obtainable, the competi- 

 tion it must meet, and other similar questions are all for round-table conference. 

 The committee are whole-heartedly interested in this experiment and are pre- 

 pared to cooperate with the United Fruit Co. to the fullest extent. 



Although this inspection did not result in any immediate develop- 

 ment of abaca production in Panama, it served to stimulate an interest 

 in this project, and it furnished the cordage manufacturing industry 

 first-hand information that proved subsequently to be of great value. 



Several different factors contributed during the early part of 1936 

 to a revival of interest in the Panama abaca project. The improve- 

 ment of general industrial conditions had resulted in a corresponding 

 improvement in the fiber market. In the Philippines, the Japanese 

 were steadily increasing their control of the abaca industry, and the 

 advisability of establishing in the Western Hemisphere a secondary 

 source of supply of this fiber was becoming increasingly evident. The 

 possibility of using Central American abaca fiber as a paper material 

 was receiving the attention of United States paper manufacturers. 



In April 1936 representatives of the United Fruit Co., the Cordage 

 Institute, and the United States Department of Agriculture, conferred 

 in Washington on means by which abaca production in Panama might 

 be established on a commercial basis. Tentative plans were prepared 

 for a cooperative project under which the United Fruit Co. would 

 agree to plant and maintain 1,000 acres of abaca and install necessary 

 machinery and equipment, and the cordage manufacturers, acting 



