BINDER-TWINE FIBER IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 5 



maguey fiber in the Philippines, but it did not result in any material 

 increase in the production of sisal fiber or in the production of ma- 

 chine-cleaned fiber, which is required for the manufacture of binder 

 twine. 



PRESENT CONDITION OF THE MAGUEY INDUSTRY IN THE 

 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



Maguey and sisal are now grown in nearly every Province of the 

 Philippine Islands. The production of fiber on a commercial scale 

 is confined, however, to northwestern Luzon, where it is grown in the 

 Provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Slir, and La Union, and to that 

 part of the Visayan Islands which includes the islands of Cebu, Bohol, 

 Siquijor, and a number of small islands near Cebu and Bohol. There 

 are other islands and Provinces where conditions are favorable for 

 the cultivation of maguey and sisal, and it is probable that, with the 

 more general use of fiber-cleaning machines in the Philippines, there 

 will be a gradual extension of the fiber industry into new districts. 



The Ilocos Provinces of Luzon formerly produced the greater part 

 of the maguey fiber exported from the Philippines, but there has been 

 a rapid growth of the industry in the southern islands during recent 

 years, with the result that this, region now produces considerably 

 more fiber than the Luzon Provinces. During the month of May, 

 1920, the production of maguey and sisal fibers in the Visayas was 

 8,801 bales, as compared with 4,482 bales produced in the Ilocano 

 Provinces. While there is opportunity for further development of 

 this industry in northern Luzon, the conditions are more favorable 

 in the southern islands. 



Table I shows the areas of maguey and sisal plants under cultiva- 

 tion in the Philippine Islands for the last eight years, as reported by 

 the division of farm statistics of the Philippine Bureau of Agri- 

 culture. 



Table I. — Area devoted to the cultivation of maguey and sisal crops in the 

 Philippine Islands for the 8-year period from -1912 to 1919, inclusive. 



Year. 



Area. 



Year. 



Area. 



1912.. 

 1913.. 

 1914.. 

 1915.. 



Hectares. 1 

 8,598 

 9,283 

 18,218 

 19,218 



1916.... 

 1917.... 

 1918.... 

 1919.... 



Hectares. 1 

 30,804 

 28,099 

 32,601 

 28, 455 



1 



1 A hectare is euivalent to 2.471 acres. 



While these figures may represent with a reasonable degree of 

 accuracy the areas of maguey and sisal that were actually harvested 

 during the years mentioned, it is believed that there was an increase 

 in 1919, rather than a decrease, in the total area planted to these 

 crops. 



