18 BULLETIN 930, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Cebu, and Bohol should furnish an abundant supply of suckers and- 

 bulbils for future use. 



IMPROVEMENTS ON PLANTATIONS. 



The field agents of the demonstration and extension division of 

 the Philippine Bureau of Agriculture have been working with the 

 maguey planters for a number of years with a view to encouraging 

 the use of improved methods on the plantations. It has been ex- 

 tremely difficult to get satisfactory results in this work, as most of 

 the producers of maguey have small plantings only and are not dis- 

 posed to make any changes in the methods to which they are accus- 

 tomed. With the introduction of cleaning machines and with the 

 consequent increased demand for maguey and sisal leaves of good 

 quality, there will be an opportunity for the employees of the Phil- 

 ippine Bureau of Agriculture to continue this work under much more 

 favorable conditions than those which have existed in the past. 



SUMMARY. 



Important agricultural and manufacturing industries of the 

 United States are now largely dependent on supplies of imported 

 raw products. Necessary action should be taken to safeguard our 

 future supply of these products. 



The grain-producing industry of the United States can not be 

 maintained without the use of harvesting machinery, and this ma- 

 chinery can not be operated without binder twine. 



The greater portion of the binder twine used in the United States 

 is manufactured from henequen and sisal fibers, and more than 90 per 

 cent of the total supply of these fibers imported into the United States 

 is received from Yucatan. 



This dependence of our most important agricultural industry on 

 one small State of a foreign country constitutes a grave menace to 

 American agriculture. 



In order to remedy this situation, it is essential that an increased 

 supply of binder-twine fiber be produced within the territory of the 

 United States or in countries over which the United States exercises 

 political control. 



The Philippine Islands possess the requirements necessary for the 

 development of a flourishing sisal industry. 



The production of binder-twine fiber in the Philippine Islands has 

 been restricted in the past by reason of the antiquated methods that 

 are in general use by the planters, and a number of reforms in this 

 industry are urgently needed. 



For the last three years the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture has been cooperating with the Philippine Bureau of Agriculture 



