36 



THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE PHILIPPINES 



Manila it is not used, except, perhaps, by the Chinese factories 

 for inferior cigarettes. Regarding the tobacco monopoly, abol- 

 ished in 1883, I shall have some remarks to make later. 



An important and world-famed article is Manila hemp, or 

 abaca, a product of the Musa textilis. It is remarkable that, 

 although there are the most various species of the musa flourish- 

 ing all over the tropics and in warm climates generally, the 

 Musa textilis appears to thrive to the best advantage only in the 

 Philippines. Attempts to grow the plant in other places have 

 been uniformly unsuccessful. Like its better-known relative, 

 the edible banana (Musa paradisiaca), the stem of the plant is 

 formed by the leaf-stalks, in the center of which again is the 

 blossom- stem. The finest growth is obtained in the volcanic 

 and rainy districts of the Philippines, more particularly in 

 Camarines Sur, Albay, Samar, Leite, Marinduque, Cebu, and 

 in some of the small neighboring islands, as well as in Negros 

 and Mindanao. The valuable hemp-fiber is found in the peti- 

 oles, from which it is taken before the plant has borne fruit, as 

 otherwise the fibers lose in elasticity and luster. In two or 



SEPARATING THE PETIOLES nF THE MUSA TEXTILIS 



