52 



MANILA DAILY BULLETIN 



the nature of the fiber in the following grades, 

 they are grouped according to cleaning. 



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A MODERN HEMP PLANTATION AT THE PRODUCING STAGE 



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Quality and grades. The quality of abaca 

 is determined by four characteristics, name- 

 ly, strength, color, cleaning, and length. 



The tensile strength of abaca is more of a 

 basic characteristic, and its possession to a 

 normal extent by any fiber is essential to 

 proper grading. Any fiber which does not 

 possess an average normal strength is dis- 

 qualified and excluded from the list of 

 standard grades proper, irrespective of its 

 color, cleaning, or length. This character- 

 istic, therefore, while extremely essential, 

 is not a determining factor in the sense that 

 it is not commonly measured or compared 

 between two adjacent grades. As a matter 

 of fact, the tensile strength of abaca does 

 not perceptibly vary from one grade to an- 

 other above or below it, but rather between 

 one group of grades and another. 



Color and cleaning are probably the most 

 important outward characteristics by which 

 the grading of abaca is generally performed. 

 Within the same group of grades which em- 

 brace fiber of uniform cleaning color is prac- 

 tically the only determining factor. Owing 

 to the peculiar construction of the abaca plant, 

 and also to the diversified method of clean- 

 ing the fiber in the different fiber producing 

 districts and often among different producers 

 in the same district, several groups of grades 

 had to be established according to the extent 

 of cleaning, and also several grades within 

 the same group according to color. In other 

 words cleaning is the factor which determines 

 the group of grades within which a certain 

 fiber should come, and color is the factor 

 which determines the grade within each group. 



The length of the fiber is neither a charac- 

 teristic of each grade nor of each group of 

 grades. It is entirely governed by the ex- 

 tent of the growth of the plant and by the 

 position of the leaf-sheaths of the stalk from 

 which it is extracted. From one to three 

 grades of each group, are made up of short 

 fiber. It is only in rare instances where a 

 fiber of certain grade of the cordage standard 

 is disqualified on account of insufficient 

 length. As a matter of fact, insufficient 

 length in any grade is an invariable result of 

 harvesting immature stalks or harvesting 

 dwarfed and worthless plants. 



The grading of abaca for export is per- 

 formed under Government supervision and 

 inspection, the number of grades and the 

 designation thereof being prescribed by 

 Government regulations. The number and 



designation of the standard grades are as 

 follows: 



1. Standard Grades for Tagal braid fiber. 



Letter Name of 



Designation grades 



AA - -- Tagal one 



BB - - - - Tagal two 



CC Tagal three 



DD Tagal four 



EE Tagal five 



The fiber in the above grade is never, or 

 should never be, under 6 feet in length, and 

 the color ranges from light ochre in the grade 

 "EE"to white andlustrous in the grade "AA." 

 These grades are exported practically en- 

 tirely to Japan, where the fiber is used in 

 the manufacture of several types and quali- 

 ties of hat braids. The manufactured ar- 

 ticle is mostly exported from Japan to the 

 United States. 



2. Standard grades for cordage. 



In order to explain as briefly as possible 



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* * * * * * * 



The grades marked with (*) are almost 

 invariably made up of short fiber produced 

 from the outer leaf-sheaths of the abaca stalk. 



Yield and value. From 400 to 500 abaca 

 plants are usually planted to the acre. Each 

 plant consists of several stalks, three of five 

 of which can be harvested annually. The 

 annual yield of fiber per acre varies consi- 



SECOND PROCESS Or EXTRACTION. PULLING THE FIBER RIBBONS UNDER THE KNIFE 



