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attention and as a result three different machines are now in operation 

 in the abaca provinces. Other machines are being experimented with, 

 so there is a good prospect that machine-cleaned abaca will soon be 

 produced on a commercial scale. The introduction and general use of 

 a satisfactory fiber-cleaning machine will do more than any other one 

 thing to promote the development of the abaca industry. 



AFTER-TREATMENT OF FIBER. 



Abaca after being stripped is hung on bamboo poles to dry. This 

 drying takes from three or four hours to two days. When thoroughly 

 dry the fiber is collected, tied up in hanks or bundles, and in this condi- 

 tion is shipped by ponies, carabaos, or cargadores to the nearest market. 

 It is there sold to a Chinese middleman or to the representative of some 

 one of the large exporting fii'ms in Manila. When the fiber reaches the 

 warehouse of the exporter it is carefully sorted into different commercial 

 grades, and is then baled, each bale weighing 2 piculs (275 pounds). 



In all districts where abaca is most successfully cultivated the rainfall 

 is abundant and the distribution fairly even throughout the year. This 

 fact, while favorable for the growth of abaca is also in part responsible 

 for the immense quantities of inferior fiber that flood the market, as 

 during rainy weather bundles of wet fiber are packed indoors. To keep 

 the fiber spread out on bamboo poles out of doors is better than keeping 

 it inside, but the successive changes of sun and rain prevent its drying 

 with the required color and luster. The following has proven to be the 

 best method for drying abaca, and is becoming more universally adopted 

 by planters in districts which produce the best fiber. A long and open 

 shed is erected. From the two sides rows of galvanized iron wire are 

 stretched to some distance and fastened by poles. As soon as the fiber 

 is stripped it is brought to the drying shed and spread on one of the 

 rows until it is dry. If the weather looks threatening and rain imminent, 

 a boy in a few minutes can slide the fiber along the rows of wire into the 

 shed, which, if the fiber is not yet dry, should be left open until the rain 

 is over, and the fiber then slid out again. It has been further claimed 

 that drying under shade in a place exposed to the full play of the wind 

 is preferable to drying by sun. Experiments in drying samples of fiber 

 under shade have been made and the results proved highly satisfactory. 



When the fiber is used locally for the manufacture of cloth it under- 

 goes a much more elaborate process of treatment. The sheaths in the 

 center of the stalk arc selected and the fiber is often drawn several times 

 under the stripping knife. This gives a product that is fine, soft, and 

 white. If to be used for the finer textures, it is then placed in a wooden 

 bowl and beaten with a mallet until the required fineness and elasticity 

 are obtained. This process gives a fiber that is almost like silk, and 

 some of the cloth made from the best quality of abaca rivals in delicacy 

 and beauty the celebrated fabrics of pifia and jusi. 



