BINDER-TWINE FIBER IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 15 



Two tests indicate that the machines clean sisal more satisfactorily 

 than maguey. The results obtained in these tests were as follows : 



Maguey. — 10 per cent grade A, 75 per cent grade B, 15 per cent grade C. 

 Sisal. — 85 per cent grade A, 15 per cent grade B. 



The tests made to determine the relative percentage of fiber ob- 

 tained by machine cleaning and retting indicated that with both 

 maguey and sisal the retting process gives a slightly larger per- 

 centage of fiber than is obtained with machine cleaning. 



The essential conclusion that can be drawn from the results of 

 these tests is that, with good business management and an adequate 

 supply of leaves, the medium-sized and probably the large fiber- 

 cleaning machines can be profitably operated in the Philippine 

 Islands and can be used for cleaning either maguey or sisal. 



THE SISAL SITUATION. 



A detailed and accurate statement showing the relative value of 

 sisal and maguey when grown under Philippine conditions can not 

 be made at the present time. It would not be possible to find in any 

 one locality in the Philippine Islands even 1 acre each of properly 

 cultivated maguey and sisal from which complete and reliable data 

 could be obtained. No accurate data are obtainable showing the 

 production of leaves and fiber for a given area of either sisal or 

 maguey in the Philippine Islands. It appears, however, that sisal 

 will prove to be a more profitable crop than maguey in the Philip- 

 pines. This assumption is based on the known production of sisal 

 in other countries, and the estimated production of maguey in the 

 Philippines, as well as on the fact that sisal leaves are more easily 

 and satisfactorily cleaned by the machines than maguey leaves and 

 that sisal fiber is more satisfactory than maguey fiber for binder- 

 twine purposes. (Fig. 4.) 



During the last year it has been ascertained that maguey leaves 

 can be satisfactorily cleaned by the machines without being crushed 

 before cleaning, and the tests indicate that a given weight of maguey 

 leaves will produce a larger percentage of dry fiber than the same 

 weight of sisal leaves. These facts, while having an important bear- 

 ing on the subject of the relative value of sisal and maguey, may 

 be taken to indicate that maguey can be profitably grown where 

 sisal is not readily obtainable, rather than the conclusion that maguey 

 is a more profitable crop than sisal. 



For a number of years the Philippine Bureau of Agriculture has 

 been importing sisal plants from the Hawaiian Islands, and during 

 the last two years the United States Department of Agriculture 

 has purchased 500,000 sisal bulbils for distribution in the Philip- 

 pines. 



