MANILLA HEMP 21 



brittle. The stems, weighing from 20 to 80 lb., are, when cut, 

 separated up by the natives into their individual leaf stalks, 

 the inner leaves producing the most valuable fibre. 



These leaves contain over 90 per cent, of water, con- 

 sequently the yield of fibre from the green leaves is compara- 

 tively small, being, in fact, only about i| per cent, of the 

 green weight. For this reason it requires the produce of 

 about 5 acres to produce i ton of fibre at each cutting. 



To extract the fibre from the leaves, the native first makes 

 a slight incision just beneath the fibre at the end, and, giving 

 a sharp pull, brings away a strip or ribbon of the outside skin 

 containing the fibre. When a sufficient number of ribbons 

 are thus obtained they are carried to the knife machine, which 

 is used for cleaning the fibre. This apparatus is of a most 

 primitive character, consisting of a rough wooden bench with 

 a long knife-blade hinged to it at one end and connected at 

 the other to a treadle, by means of which the operator can 

 raise the knife for a moment in order to insert one end of a 

 fibrous ribbon, which, being twisted round a small piece of 

 wood in order to afford a good hold, is dragged through 

 between blade and block, and all the pulp, weak fibre, and 

 pithy matter scraped off. The leaves must be drawn several 

 times between the blade and the bench before the fibre is 

 sufficiently clean. The unscraped end, which is held by the 

 operator, is then scraped by a boy, the fibre being then 

 cleansed by washing, dried in the sun, and packed for ship- 

 ment. One man can clean about 50 lb. of fibre per day. 

 Nearly 1,000,000 bales are exported annually. The trade is 

 in the hands of Spanish and Chinese merchants, who buy 

 from the planters and re-sell to the shippers. There are three 

 principal classes of Manilla hemp, viz., "current," "fair 

 current," and "brown." Lupis and quilot, now rarely seen 

 on the London market, is the white, brilliant, and fine fibre 

 produced from the inside leaves of the saga. It is very 

 valuable, being worth, say, 60 per ton, while current, 



