30 



These strips should be graded according to their color and each grade 

 stripped separately. This grading of strips helps a great deal when 

 subsequent grading of the fiber is required. It will be found that five 

 or six grades of strips can be made ranging in color from a dark red 

 to white. But two grades, however, are ordinarily made of these strips, 

 the fiber of which is separately stripped and handled. 



When a quantity of these fiber strips has been collected, they are 

 carried to some central point where a shed has been erected and an 

 apparatus set up for stripping the fiber. The shed consists of a frame 

 of bamboo poles covered with abaca leaves. The stripping apparatus, 

 known as the "panguijan^' or "jagutan" is simple both in construction 

 and operation. It- consists of a log set in a horizontal position 0.5 

 meter to 1.5 meters from the ground. On the top of this is fastened 

 a block of smooth, hard wood. Over this block is placed a bolo having 

 a blade about 30 centimeters long and a handle 40 centimeters long. 

 A rattan is attached to the end of the knife handle and connected with 

 the bamboo spring above. Another rattan passes from the handle to a 

 foot treadle. The bamboo spring holds the knife down on the block, its 

 pressure being easily regulated by lengthening or shortening the rattan. 

 By means of the foot treadle the operator raises the knife when he desires 

 to insert or remove a strip of fiber. 



In the process of stripping, the operator holds in his right hand one 

 or more of the fiber ribbons and also a short, round piece of wood. These 

 strips are inserted under the .knife and are drawn through with a quick, 

 steady pull. The ribbon is then removed and reversed, the clean end 

 being wound three or four times around the stick. This process of draw- 

 ing under the knife removes all of the pulp or fleshy material, leaving 

 in the hand of the operator a small bimch of clean, wet fiber. As the 

 fiber is stripped it is usually assorted into two classes. The work of fiber 

 extraction while apparently simple, is very exhausting, even for the 

 experienced operator, and many laborers are ruptured by the excessive 

 strain of pulling the fiber strips under the knife. It is a fair day's work 

 to strip 9 kilos and the fiber stripper will usually work only four or five 

 days a week. 



Practically all of the fiber produced in the Islands is extracted with 

 this simple apparatus. The strength and color of the fiber — two most 

 important qualities — are determined largely by the manner in which 

 it is cleaned. Two factors in the process affect the quality of the 

 product, the condition of the knife blade and the degree of pressure 

 with which the knife is held upon the base block. With a serrated knife 

 loosely fastened the fibers are only partially separated and only a portion 

 of the pulp is removed; the work is easy, the yield large, but the fiber 

 is inferior in quality. With a knife having a smooth-edged blade and 

 held firmly on the base block, the work of extraction is much more 

 difficult and the waste is greater, but a very superior fiber is obtained. 



