UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 930 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 WM A. TAYLOR, Chief 



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Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



December 30, 1920 



THE PRODUCTION OF BINDER-TWINE FIBER IN 

 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



By H. T. Edwaeds, Specialist in Fiber-Plant Production, Office of Fiber-Plant 

 ( Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Safeguarding the supply of im- 

 ported raw materials 1 



The binder-twine fiber situation 2 



The Philippine Islands as a source 



of binder-twine fiber 3 



Present condition of the maguey in- 

 dustry in the Philippine Islands 5 



Improvements needed in the maguey 



industry ; 8 



Purpose of the cooperative work 

 with the Philippine Bureau of 



Agriculture 9 



Outline of the cooperative work 10 



Results of the cooperative work 11 



The machine situation 11 



The sisal situation 15 



Improvements on plantations 18 



Summary 18. 



SAFEGUARDING THE SUPPLY OF IMPORTED RAW MATERIALS. 



IT IS ONLY within the last five years that any marked degree 

 of attention has been given to the subject of safeguarding the 

 supply of raw products imported into the United States. Appar- 

 ently it has been assumed that the world production of such impor- 

 tant staples as fiber, oil, and rubber would keep pace with the world 

 demand, that there would be a free and relatively unrestricted ex- 

 change of these staples, and that there existed no danger of either 

 an immediate or a future shortage of any of these materials. 



There has existed, furthermore, a very limited and inadequate 

 understanding of the complex situation that has arisen with the rapid 

 development of modern manufacturing industries. There has been 

 no general comprehension of the fact that there exists to-day a degree 

 of interdependence between different and often widely separated 

 industries that was almost unknown 50 years ago. 



The World War brought an awakening with respect to these mat- 

 ters. With a decreased production of certain staple products, with 



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