12 FARMERS' BULLETIN. 



set in the ground a horizontal pole is attached with "bejucos" or rattan 

 canes. A short strong knife or bolo with a wooden handle is firmly 

 attached on a pivot or fulcrum upon the upper surface of the horizontal 

 pole. The handle is attached by a rattan cane to a bamboo spring 

 arranged in the roof of the shed or to a branch of the tree, while another 

 rattan cane runs from the handle to a treadle on the ground, which can 

 be worked by the foot of the operator. The spring in the roof above 

 holds the knife upon the pole, or in some cases a block, with a uniform 

 pressure while the strip of the leaf-sheath is being drawn between its 

 edge and the pole or block. By placing the foot upon the treadle the 

 pressure is released and the fiber may be redrawn or a new strip inserted. 



When it is not the desire of the operator to produce a fiber of fine 

 texture and white color a knife with finely serrated edge may be used. 

 By using a knife of this kind there is less waste of the fiber, but at the 

 same time more of the undesirable pulp and, consequently, fresh juice is 

 left with the fiber. This residue of pulp and juice drying upon the fiber 

 gives it an undesirable color, and if too much is left on, the strength of 

 the fiber is injured and the market value is much reduced. The whitest 

 fiber is drawn under a knife with a smooth edge and immediately after 

 the plant is cut. If the stalks and strips are allowed to lie in the sun 

 for any length of time before the fiber is drawn the fiber will be colored 

 more or less yellow. As a means of increasing the fineness and whiteness 

 of the fiber the strips may be drawn several times when they are fresh. 

 Of course the greater the number of times the fiber is drawn and the 

 greater the pressure upon the knife the more is the waste, but the in- 

 creased value of white fiber will compensate for a certain amount of waste. 



In yield Musa textilis varies considerably. In Albay, Sorsogon, 

 and Masbate, where the rainfall is heavy and the humidity of the atmos- 

 phere is high, the }deld ranges from 12 to 16 piculs of dry fiber per hec- 

 tare each year (687.5 to 967.6 pounds per acre). In other provinces 

 where the climate is dryer the yield may not exceed 6 piculs per hectare. 

 In some localities the quality of the fiber is injured by the work of borers. 

 Wherever these insects work the fiber is either cut entirely or it is injured 

 in color and strength. 



XSeveral attempts have been made to perfect machines for extracting 

 this fiber economically, but these machines have either fallen far short 

 of their requirements or have not met with favor among the natives who 

 have had occasion to use them^/The most essential feature at the present 

 time of a machine for this work is that it be light and portable. The 

 greater part of Manila hemp is produced on the mountain or volcano 

 sides or on very rough ground, and as the plant stalks are quite heavy all 

 planters have found it most economical to transport their apparatus 

 rather than the material. It is hoped, however, that some apparatus can 

 be devised to avoid the great waste which renders the present method 

 objectionable. It is variously estimated that from 20 to 30 per cent of the 



