MANILA HEMP 159 



about an inch. The seedlings may be transplanted 

 after ten or twelve months. 



Planting. New plantations are usually established 

 on freshly cleared forest land. The young plants, 

 whether grown from suckers, rhizomes or seed, are 

 planted about 8 to 10 feet apart in straight rows, this 

 arrangement giving about 700 to 450 plants per acre 

 If possible, the ground should be well ploughed ; 

 this, of course, cannot be done on land which has 

 only just been cleared but, in such cases, the soil 

 must be well broken up round each plant. The 

 plantation requires very little attention subsequently, 

 but the larger weeds are usually cut down about twice 

 a year. In some cases, the growth of weeds is kept 

 down by planting camotes (sweet potatoes) or legu- 

 minous plants, such as cowpeas and velvet beans, 

 between the rows, but this should not be done until 

 the Manila hemp plants have attained a height of at 

 least 12 inches. 



HARVESTING AND PREPARATION OF THE FIBRE 



The fibre reaches its maximum tensile strength 

 shortly before the shoot flowers. At this stage, the 

 stalk is cut in a slanting direction a few inches from 

 the ground, and the leaf-sheaths are afterwards 

 stripped off. As a rule, cutting should not be com- 

 menced until the plant is from two to three years old. 

 Subsequent cuttings can be made every six or 

 eight months. The coarser and stronger fibre is 

 located in the outer part of the sheath, whilst the 

 fibre of the inner part is comparatively soft and weak. 

 For this reason, the outer layer is separated from the 

 inner portion, and the latter is usually thrown away. 

 The outer part is then cut into strips, about 2 to 3 

 inches in width, and each strip, while still fresh and 

 succulent, is drawn between the edge of a blunt 

 knife or " bolo " and a hard, smooth wooden block 

 attached to a light frame constructed of rattan 

 canes. By repeated scraping, all the soft, pulpy, 

 cellular tissue is removed, and the clean fibre remains 

 in the hands of the operator. The product is then 



