II 
EOYAL GAKDENS, KEW. 
[From the Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information.) 
\ Manila Hemp (Musa texMis, 'Wpes.j— This is 
one of the most important of cordage fibres, and the 
whole supply comes from the Philippine Islands. The 
imports of Manila hemp to Great Britain amount to 
about 170,000 bales, and to the United States about 
160,000 bales, equal to about 50,000 tons per annum. 
The fibre is yielded by a member of the banana or 
plantain family known locally as Abaca (Musa textilis), 
the apparent steal of which is made up of sheathing 
leaf stalks. The habit of growth and treatment of 
the plant tinder cultivation are identical with those 
so well known in ths cii»o of the common banana. 
The fruit of Mysa textilis is green and hard and 
useless as food. 
From a report by Consul Honey, dated Manila, 
10th April 1870, we gather that this plant thrives 
best in soils largely composed of decayed vegetable 
matter. Hence, freshly cleared forest land is essen- 
tial. Hilly land, about 200 feet to 500 feet elevation, 
is considered more suitable than low-lying land, probab- 
ly on account of drainage. The Manila hemp plant- 
ations are situated where there is a rich volcanic 
soil,* and where the climate is hot and humid with 
a heavy rainfall. The plants suffer severely during 
drought. Although seed is produced plantations are 
usually established by means of suckers put out 
when about 3 feet high, and about 8 to 9 feet ajatt'. 
These form a root-stock, from which numerous stems 
are successively produced. The land is cleaned of 
weeds about twice a year. The first crop is reaped 
at the end of the second year after planting ; a full 
crop is not obtained until the fourth year. The yield 
is then continued for 15 to 20 years, after which 
the plantation is exhausted. The stems are fit to be 
treated for fibre just before they begin to flower. 
In stems that have been allowed to flower the 
fibre is said to be weaker and of less value. They 
are cut about a foot from the ground and the leaves 
removed. Bach stem is then stripped or resolved 
into its component layers, and these are again divided 
into strips or ribbons about 3 inches wide. Usually 
each layer or leaf-sheath is divided into three strips. 
The outer layers contain a coarser and stronger fibre 
than the inner, while fibre from near the middle is 
of a fine silky texture, and capable of being utilised 
without spinning or weaving and made into articles 
of dress and ornament. 
The method of preparing the fibre is very simple 
but effective. Each strip, in a fresh succulent con- 
dition, is take'li up by hand and drawn deftly " be- 
tween a blunt knife and a hard smooth board," which 
are attached to a light portable frame. This process, 
repeated several times if necessary, removes all the 
watery particles and pulp, and there remains in the 
hand of the operator a beautifully white and lustrous 
fibre. The fibre is thoroughly dried in the sun and 
afterwards packed in bales for shipment. Hemp not 
properly dried or exposed to rain becomes discoloured 
and loses strength. On the other hand, hemp from 
the outer layer of the stem is of a reddish colour, 
but is quite sound. It is a characteristic of Manila 
hemp tfj;it it readily absorbs mo'sturr, and in an 
ordinary dry condition it contains 12 per cent, of 
water. In a damp climate it has been known to 
contain not less than 4.0 per cent, of water, 
Cordage, ropes, and indeed everything made from 
Manila hemp can be easily converted into paper of 
excellent quality. 
The cost of establishing a Manila hemp plantation 
in the Philippines, inclu ling cutting down forest, 
cleaning and planting, is abaut hi. to 8i. per acre. 
This dc es not include the cost of the land. After 
this the yearly expense of weeding and maintaining the 
plantation in full bearing is at the rate of 30s. to 35^. 
por Here. The yield during the fourth and subsequent 
\i'ar> i" at the rate of 400 to 700 pounds of dry 
hemp per a 're. "A labourer working under press- 
" lire enn cle in nearly 20 pounds of hemp per diem ; 
" but as a rule the quantity cleaned by one man 
f VVMclj does not exist in Ceylon,— -E&, 
" working steadily, day by day, averages about 12 
pounds." Usually two men work together, one cutting 
down the stems and splitting them while the other 
cleans the fibre. " At the current value of hemp 
" in 1873 one labourer's earnings were iyL. to 8d. 
" per diem." Several attempts have been made to 
introduce machinery, but so far nothing has beon 
so successful as the primitive method above described.* 
It is essential that any machinery introduced should 
be of a light and portable character, and that it 
should clean the fibre at a cheap rate, without breaking 
it. 
From these particulars it will be 6een that the 
Manila hemp industry is, to a large extent, supported 
by special circumstances which happen to be favour- 
ably combined in the Philippines, and hence there i6 
produced an exceptional article in large demand at 
a comparatively cheap rite. The conditions of soil 
nad climate may possibly be found elsewhere, but, 
as a necessary adjunct to these, there must be an 
abundant and cheap supply of labour adapted to a 
rural industry. 
A plant of Manila hemp (Musa textilis) may be 
seen in the Palm House at Kew. For the purpose 
of illustrating the industry there are very complete 
sets of exhibits in the Kew Museum, No. 2. These 
include the raw fibre, cables, ropes, twine, fine muslin 
fabrics, " half stuff," and paper of all kinds, the 
latter being made from old Manila ropes. 
The valuable character of the fibre yielded by 
Musa textilis has naturally drawn attention to it as 
a valuable industrial plant, and during the last 60 
years it has been introduced to India and elsewhere 
for experimental culture. Plants of Musa textilis 
were cultivated at Calcutta in 1822 ; specimens were 
introduced to the Madras Presidency direct from 
the Philippines in 1858 ; while at the Andaman 
Islands this fibre plant has been thoroughly established. 
Experiments in India so far have shown that plants 
of Musa textilis can be successfully grown in many 
districts ; but it is not yet clearly shown that the 
fibre can be cleaned so expeditiously and so cheaply 
as to compete successfully with fibre from the 
Philippines. 
After a systematic series of trials made by the 
Glenrock Company at Madras in 1885, it is stated 
that plants put out in 1864 grew well and yielded 
numerous shoots. 179 stems, weighing about 60 
pounds each were cut down for experimental puip)ses 
and passed through Death & Ellwood machines. 
These produce 159 pounds of clean fibre, or 149 per 
cent, of the green stem. The cost of cleaning the 
fibre was at the rate of 6?. per ton, while the fibre 
itself, described as " poor, weak, and flaggy, with some 
clean fibre of good colour," was valued in London 
at 101. per ton ; the best alone was valued at 251. 
per ton. The minute upon this of the Government 
of Madras is that "unless much improvement both 
" in the method and cost of production of this fibre 
" can be made, the cultivation cannot be made re- 
" muuerative. " 
Manila hemp plants have been introduced from 
Kew, to Jamaica, and to other portions of the West 
Indies. In favourable situations they grow well ; but 
not so readily as the ordinary bananas and plantains. 
As the fruit is valueless they can only be grown 
for the sake of the fibre and this alone does not 
appear to offer sufficient inducement to plant up large 
areas. Usually the return from a fruiting stem of 
the common banana or plantain would be from 6d, 
to 2 s., depending upon the size of the bunch. The 
return from the Manila hemp plant would 2Gcording 
to experience in the Philippines be about one pound 
of fibre, the locil value of which would be only 2d. 
to Sd. 
Note atjded. — In the Kew Bulletin, No. 3, pp. 
5 and 0, the prices there given for Sisal hemp, as 
indicated in the context, are not the present prices, 
The price current in the London market in December 
1886 is given on p. 8 of the Bulletin quoted. As 
* For which, we suspect, labour is too expensive 
in Ceylon,— Eo, 
