8 BULLETIN 030, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



mutely 7.2 per cent of the total production of Yucatan for the same 

 year. During the first five months of the calendar year 1920 the Phil- 

 ippine Islands produced 66,912 bales of maguey fiber, which was 

 approximately 20 per cent of the production of Yucatan sisal for the 

 same period. 



The production of binder-twine fiber in all countries other than the 

 Philippine Islands is conducted as a large-plantation industry. This 

 is primarily due to the fact that the economical production of a good 

 quality of binder-twine fiber involves the use of expensive fiber- 

 cleaning machinery. The economical operation of this machinery 

 requires a large and dependable supply of leaves, such as is ordinarily 



Fig. 3. — A maguey field at San Miguel, Ilocos Norte Province, Philippine Islands. 



obtainable under conditions found in tropical countries only on large 

 and well-organized plantations. 



One of the fundamental problems, therefore, in encouraging the 

 increased production of maguey and sisal fibers in the Philippine 

 Islands is to increase the number of large plantations. 



IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN THE MAGUEY INDUSTRY. 



The reforms most urgently needed on the Philippine maguey plan- 

 tations are better preparation of the land that is used for field plant- 

 ing, the establishment of nurseries, the use of larger and more 

 vigorous sucker plants, wider spacing between the rows and between 

 the plants in the row, improved cultivation, and a radical change in 

 the methods of harvesting the leaves and cleaning the fiber. 



