324 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



candy, or steeped like tea. Hasheesh is the name 

 it is known by in Turkey and Syria. Hasheesh 

 cakes, often huge in size, are sold in the bazaars. 

 The effect of hasheesh is pleasantly stimulating 

 at first; then follows loss of sensation, dulling of 

 pain, and sleep with pleasant dreams. The result 

 of constant use of the drug may be insanity. 



MANILA HEMP 



Manila hemp is a Philippine export, grown on 

 hillsides of Luzon and other provinces that have 

 a very humid, hot atmosphere. The plant, near 

 relative of the banana, grows like the maize, or 

 Indian corn. The fibre is in the overlapping 

 leaf-sheaths, that support a stem twenty feet high. 

 When about five years old the plant throws out its 

 flower shoot. When this appears, the whole stalk 

 is cut down; the fibrous leaf-sheaths split into 

 strips then the strips drawn under the blunt edge 

 of a heavy knife, held against a board. The process 

 scrapes the fibre free from pulp. In some places 

 the work is now done by machinery. 



This white or pale red fibre is stiff and coarse, 

 but long, light, strong, and durable. It is the best 

 material for binder twine and for ships' cables and 

 other cordage. When ropes wear out, the refuse is 

 made into Manila paper. 



