134 PHILIPPINE AGRICULTURE 



plant is ready to blossom. Young erect shoots, or suck- 

 ers, grow at all times from the underground stem, so that 

 an old plant has ten to thirty shoots of all ages, in a 

 cluster. 



What looks like a stem is made up of the leaf bases. 

 These are broad and overlapping. They grow up, one 

 inside another, until they make an apparent trunk 30 or 

 40 cm in diameter. The real stem, which grows rapidly 

 up through the middle of the false stem, is usually less 

 than 8 cm in diameter, and contains no useful fibers. 

 The flowers of abaca are borne in clusters on a thick 

 axis. The clusters nearer the base bear the pistillate 

 flowers ; they blossom before the starninate flowers open. 

 The pollen is carried by insects. 



Abaca Fiber and its Uses. The fruit of abaca is smaller 

 than that of most bananas, and contains many large seed. 

 The fibers are found in the leaf bases which make up the 

 false stem. In the outer part of each base, the fibers are 

 more numerous, and their cells are much longer and 

 thicker-walled than those of the inside fibers. The out- 

 side fibers are therefore a great deal stronger. 



The principal use of the abaca fiber is in making cord- 

 age ; for this use it is the best fiber produced in large 

 quantities in the world. Abaca is very strong, but so 

 light that it will float on water. For these reasons, the 

 cordage used on ships in all countries is usually made of it. 



In the Philippines, the finest abaca is used in making 

 cloth, most of which is called sinamay. Far more sina- 

 may is made than any other cloth. Exceedingly strong 



