36 



manufactured product, will be exported in the very near future. At the 

 present time there is a market in Manila for any amount of waste that 

 can be supplied. 



The work of preparing this waste for export is both simple and inex- 

 pensive. Boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 13 could be employed 

 for this work, thus making it unnecessary to use men who could be more 

 profitably employed in cultivating and stripping. If the fiber strips are 

 properly separated, the knife well adjusted, and the stripper properly 

 trained, the waste will come out from under the knife in almost exactly 

 the condition required, needing no handling further than squeezing out 

 the sap and drying in the sun. 



Abaca waste can be sold on the plantations for T"2 to 1P2.50 a picul, 

 depending on the extent of cleaning and drying. The color of the waste 

 has nothing to do with the quality or selling price. If strippers are 

 centralized and a number of boys employed with them to pick the waste 

 and clean and dry it as soon as it falls from the knives, it will be found 

 that a boy who gets from 20 to 30 centavos per day can clean and dry 

 from 25 to 30 pounds a day. As a picul of this clean waste can be 

 prepared at an expense of ^1.40 to ?1.50, a profit to the planter of 

 ?0.60 to ^1 on each picul will be left. 



It should be stated that sisal waste or fiber can not compete with abaca 

 in this industry. Sisal fiber, besides being weak, does not boil down to 

 paper pulp, and its presence in old manila rope is detrimental. 



With only a limited competition and with excellent prospects for an 

 increasing demand and higher prices, the question of utilizing abaca 

 waste for paper-bag manufacture should receive consideration and atten- 

 tion from every abaca planter in the Islands. 



ESTIMATED COST AND REVENUES OF AN ABACA PLANTATION. 



The following is an estimate of the cost of establishing an abaca planta- 

 tion. The size of the plantation selected is 100 hectares. Planting 25 

 hectares a year, it would require four years to put this amount of land 

 under cultivation. With respect to the cost of clearing and cultivating 

 land, and also the yield, there will be considerable variation, depending 

 on the existing conditions where the plantation is located. This general 

 estimate is prepai'ed from figures obtained from personal experience on 

 an abaca plantation. It should be understood that a large part of the 

 labor employed can be paid for in rice, cloth, and other commodities, 

 which will give a profit that should considerably more than pay for all 

 incidental expenses that may occur. All accounts in this statement are 

 in Philippine currency, and rate of interest is not included in the 

 estimate. The prices of fiber are the current prices paid in Manila for 

 good hemp during December, 1909. 



