April 1907. J 



211 



Fibres. 



7. On what kind of laud should maguey be planted '?. 



A. Maguey should be planted on hillsides, or on land that is well drained. 

 It can be planted in dry, sandy soils, and it will grow particularly well in soils 

 containing coral rock. It should not be planted on low, level paddy land where 

 water will stand during the rainy season. 



8. How should maguey be planted ? 



A. Maguey should be planted in rows 12 feet apart, with the plants 4$ feet 

 apart in the row. This system will give larger plants, larger leaves, better fibre, 

 and more fibre per hectare than the present Philippine method of setting out plants 

 but 2 or 3 feet apart. 



9. How is maguey cultivated ? 



A. Maguey requires but little cultivation. Two or three times a year the 

 fields should be cleaned of weeds and grass, and the suckers which grow from the 

 roots of the old plants should be cut out. 



10. How long after planting can the first leaves be cut ? 



A. In three years Avhere suckers are planted, and in four years where bulbs 

 are planted. 



11. How many leaves should be cut at one time ? 



A. Only one or two rows of the large, mature leave? around the base of the 

 plant should be cut at one time. The Philippine system of cutting at one time 

 nearly all the leaves on the plant is utterly wrong. This system weakens the plant, 

 reduces the yield of fibre, and produces an inferior quality of fibre. Cutting only 

 the mature leaves will do more than any other one thing to improve the present 

 condition of the maguey industry. 



12. How is the fibre extracted ? 



A. In tne Philippine Islands maguey fibre is extracted by rotting the leaves 

 in salt water. The leaves are left in the water for a few days and the pulp is then 

 beaten and washed away, leaving the clean fibre. The fibre is then laid on the 

 ground, or is hung over bamboo poles and dried in the sun. This system of rotting, 

 or " retting," as it is called, is very unsatisfactory and produces a very poor quality 

 of fibre. 



13. What machinery is used for cleaning maguey ? 



A. Large machines which clean from 50,000 to 150,000 leaves per day, and 

 cost from $6,000 to $9,000, are used in Mexico. A smaller machine which cleans 15,000 

 leaves per day, and costs $2,000 is manufactured in New York, Arrangements are 

 now being made by the Bureau of Agriculture to bring one of these smaller machines 

 to the Philippine Islands and to operate it in the different provinces. 



14. What is the yield of fibre ? 



A. One plant will yield from 15 to 30 leaves per year. Where only the large 

 mature leaves are cut the yield of fibre will be fi *om 30 to 40 pounds per 1,000 leaves 

 With plants set out 12 by 4^ feet apart, or approximately 2,000 to the hectare, the 

 annual yield of leaves per hectare is from 30,000 to 60,000, and of fibre from 900 to 

 2,400 pounds. 



15. What is the value of maguey fibre ? 



A. The current Manila quotations for maguey are as follows :— No. I, $15 ; No. 

 2, $12 ; No. 3, $9. Good machine-cleaned maguey fibre is equal in value to good sisal, 

 which is worth only 1 to 2 cents less per pound than abaca, 



28 



