ANNIVERSARY NUMBER 1919 



53 



FIRST PROCESS OF FIBER 

 OF THE LAYERS 



EXTRACTION. SEPARATION 

 OF THE SHEATHS 



DRYING ABACA FIBER IMMEDIATELY 

 EXTRACTION 



clerably, but under normal conditions and by 

 proper treatment an average of one-half ton 

 of dry fiber can be obtained. The quality 

 of the fiber also varies considerably depend- 

 ing on the knife used, the amount of care 

 taken in cleaning the fiber, and the care in 

 handling it prior to and after extraction. 

 The average quality or quantities produced, 

 however, should be those for which the type 

 of fiber in the particular district concerned 

 is best suited and for which there is at the 

 time the strongest demand and best prices. 

 These conditions vary widely, as a result of 

 the differing requirements of the consuming 

 markets, and also because of the ignorance 

 of the bulk of producers of the qualities most 

 in demand at a certain time. This last fact 

 is mostly responsible for periodical oversup- 

 plies in certain grades and a corresponding 

 shortage in others. But taking, as a basis 

 of calculation, the average production of a 

 plantation of the grade "F" current, valued 

 at an average price of P400 ($200) per ton 

 during normal years, the average annual 

 gross income from one acre of land would be 

 about 1*200 ($100). 



The cost of bringing to maturity one acre 

 of land planted to abaca is estimated normally 

 at P100 ($50). The annual cost of subse- 

 quent cultivation is estimated at 1*10 to 

 t*12 ($5 to $6) per acre. The cost of harvest- 

 ing, fiber extraction, and marketing of the 

 product ranges from 1*175 to 1*200 ($87.50 

 to $100) per ton, or 1*87 to f100 ($43.50 to 

 $50) per acre. During normal times the 

 net income will be about 1*90 ($45) per acre 

 per annum. 



Uses of abaca. The chief uses of abaca 

 are in the manufacture of marine cordage 

 of various sizes and grades, oil drilling rope, 

 binder twine, trawl twine, tarred lathe, and 

 tagal braid and textiles. 



The manufacture of marine cordage takes 

 the bulk of abaca fiber, perhaps not less than 

 75 percent of the total production. The 

 grades of the fiber used for this purpose 

 depend on the grade of the rope made, and 

 also on the country where the rope is manu- 

 factured. The United States uses the grades 

 C, D, E, F, SI, S2, I, and the softer type of 

 J, hence these, with the exception of the last 

 grade, are generally designated asU.S.grades. 

 Of these grades, however, the bulk of demand 



BALING GRADED ABACA FIBER FOR EXPORT 



THREE QUALITIES OF TAGAL BRAID MANUFACTURED 

 IN JAPAN FROM MANILA HEMP 



is for the grades E, F, I, and J, more particu- 

 larly the grades F and I. Great Britain uses 

 the grades S3, G, H, J, K, L, and M, but 

 more especially the grades J, K, L, and M. 

 These grades, therefore, are commonly called 

 U. K. grades. Of the cordage grades pur- 

 chased by Japan S2 S3, J, and L form the 

 chief ones; Australasia buys a limited quan- 

 tity of the grades D, E, F, I, J, K, and I., 

 while British India buys small quantities of 

 J, K, and L. In recent years the United 

 States has been using about S0 ( / c , Great 

 Britain about 33%, and all other countries 

 about 17', c of the total production of abaca. 



In the manufacture of oil-drilling rope 

 only the higher grades are used, perhaps 

 little or none under "good current.'' 



The use of abaca in binder twine has re- 

 cently been declining due, first, to the scarci- 

 ty of the middle and higher grades of abaca 

 and their consequent rise in price; and, sec- 

 ond, to the increase in the production of 

 heneqiien and other sisal fibers, which are 

 more uniform in quality than abaca, and 

 which, though not as strong and durable as 

 the latter, yet are strong enough for binder 

 twine. Probably less than 10 per cent of 

 the total supply of abaca is now being used 

 for binder twine. 



Trawl twine is made from abaca of the 

 grades midway or above. For this purpose 

 the fine and soft fiber is particularly required. 



Tarred lathe is made of the lower grades 

 of the well cleaned (soft) abaca, and such 

 ropes are used for hauling lumber at the saw 

 mills, and for other similar purposes. 



The manufacture of tagal (hat) braid is 

 of a comparatively recent, origin. As pre- 

 viously mentioned, only the. highest grades 

 of abaca are used for this purpose and Ja- 

 pan is practically the only buyer of such 

 grades. Some European countries buy these 

 high grades, knotted and twisted into hanks, 

 (Continued en fate 6i) 



