96 
deftly “ between a blunt knife and a hard smooth board,” which are 
attached to a light portable frame. This process, repeated several times 
if necessary, removes all the watery particles and pulp, and there 
remains in the hands of the operator a beautifully white and lustrous 
he fibre is thoroughly we d in the sun and afterwards packed 
in bales for shipment. Hemp not eea dried, or exposed to rain, 
becomes discoloured and loses strength. On the other hand, hemp from 
the outer layer of the stem is of a reddish colour, but is quite sound. 
It i 
4 in an ordinary dry condition it contains 12 per cent. of water. 
a damp climate it has been known to contain not less than 40 per cent. 
of water. 
Cordage, ropes, and indeed everything made from Manila hemp can 
be easily converted into paper of excellent quality. 
The cost of establishing a Manila hemp Mabe in the Philippines, 
including cutting down forest, cleaning and planting, is about 5/. to 
- 81. per acre. This does not include the cost of the land. pe this 
act 
~ and subsequent years is at the rate of 400 to 700 pounds of di ry 
per acre. “A labourer w biarin under pressure can clean nearly 
j 20 pounds of hemp per die ; but as a rule the quantity cleaned by 
“one man working Erai ie by day, averages about 12 pounds.” 
Usually two men wor toget er, one cutting down the stems and 
splitting them while the other ‘cleans the fibre. “At the current 
“ value of hemp in 1879 one labourer’s earnings were Tid. to & 
“ per m.” Several attempts have been made. to introduce machi- 
ut so far nothi as been so successful as the primitive me 
above describe It is essential any machinery introduced should 
be of a light and portable character, and that it should clean the fibre 
at a cheap rate, without breaking it. 
From these particulars it will “be seen that the Manila hemp industry 
is, toa large ex gigs Jee eat rae aR special circumstances which happen 
to be favourably combined in the Philippines, and hence ther 
produced an excel aracle in large demand at a comparatively 
cheap rate. The conditions of soil and ‘climate may possibly be found 
elsewhere, but, as a necessary adjunct to these, there must be an 
ge and chea ap supply of labour adapted to a rural industry. 
A plant of Manila hemp (Musa tertilis) may be seen in the Palm 
House at ‘Kew For the purpose of illustrating the industry there are 
very complete sets of — in the Kew Museum, No. 2. These 
include the raw fibre, cables, ropes, twine, fine m uslin fabrics, “ half 
set and paper of all cin the latter being made from old Manila 
Irho valuable character of the fibre yielded by Musa textilis has 
experimental culture. Plants of Musa textilis were cultivated at 
Caleutta in 1822; specimens were introduced to the Madras Presi- 
‘dency direct from the Philippines in 1858; while in the Andaman 
Islands this fibre plant has been thoroughly established. 
xperiments in India so far have shown that plants of Musa textilis 
can be successtully grown in many districts ; but it is not yet clearly 
shown that the fibre can be cleaned so expeditiously and so cheaply 
as to compete successfully with fibre from the Philippines. 
