24 



PLANTING. 



The land, when ready for planting, should be lined out with a cord 

 or bamboo poles and small stakes driven at equal distances apart where 

 the plants are to be set out. Some of the plants will fail to grow, and 

 without these stakes it will be difficult to determine the exact spot for 

 making the new setting. The rows should be from 2.9 to 3.5 meters 

 apart each way, depending on the size of the variety of abaca planted 

 and on the nature of the soil. This will give from 750 to 1,350 plants 

 to the hectare (2.471 acres). The most favorable time for planting is 

 near the beginning of the rainy season. 



A new plantation may be started with seed, suckers, or root sections. 

 The one advantage of using seed is that the first cost is less. This 

 method, however, is seldom followed, as it requires from six months 

 to a year longer for the plants to mature from seed than from suckers 

 or root sections. Good seed is difficult to secure, and even when every 

 precaution is taken it often fails to germinate. The seeds of the ripe 

 fruit should be selected, well washed to remove the pulp, and dried. 

 Before planting, soak in water for some five hours and use only the 

 seed which sink to the bottom. Prepare the seed bed carefully in moist, 

 fertile soil and sow in drills 25 to 50 centimeters apart. The plants 

 should be large enough to set out in the field at the end of nine months 

 to a year. 



The ordinary method of propagation is by the use of suckers. These 

 suckers grow from the root of the "mother plant" and can be obtained 

 on any large plantation at a cost of from ^30 to ^40 per thousand. 

 Care should be taken to secure suckers that are well developed and in 

 good condition. It is always safe to allow for the loss of one-fourth 

 the original number ordered during the period of transportation and 

 after planting. 



The use of root sections is the most desirable method of propagation 

 because these roots are cheaper, more easily transported, and more liable 

 to grow than suckers. The easiest way to obtain them is by felling the 

 stalk in such a way as to pull up all, or part, of the root with it. This 

 root section, if small, is set out entire, to start a new plant; but if large, 

 it has been found more desirable to cut it into two or three, sometimes 

 four sections, according to its size. It may be borne in mind, however, 

 that at least two eyes must be found on each section, just the same as is 

 the case in potato planting. If large sections with as many as six or 

 eight eyes on them are planted, it is quite often seen that four to six 

 or more weak and slim stalks grow up from the same root at the same 

 time, making too much demand on the yet young and tender roots for 

 nourishment. On the contrary, when only two stalks grow up at first, 

 they are, as a rule, found to be stout and robust, and grow unchecked 

 and unhindered until leaf and root formation are sufficiently developed 



