UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
tgj| BULLETIN No. 930 A 
&%tJK Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry JJ 
.SV^^-rt* 
WM A. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
December 30, 1920 
THE PRODUCTION OF BINDER-TWINE FIBER IN 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
By H. T. Edwards, Specialist in Fiber-Plant Production, Office of Fiber-Plant 
Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Safeguarding the supply of im- 
ported raw materials 1 
The binder-twine fiber situation 2 
The Philippine Islands as a source 
of binder-twine fiber 3 
Present condition of the maguey in- , 
dustry in the Philippine Islands 5 
Improvements needed in the maguey 
industry 8 
Page. 
Purpose of the cooperative work 
with the Philippine Bureau of 
Agriculture 9 
Outline of the cooperative work 10 
Results of the cooperative work 11 
The machine situation 11 
The sisal situation 15 
Improvements on plantations 18 
Summary : 18, 
SAFEGUARDING THE SUPPLY OF IMPORTED RAW MATERIALS. 
IT IS ONLY within the last five years that any marked degree 
of attention has been given to the subject of safeguarding the 
supply of raw products imported into the United States. Appar- 
ently it has been assumed that the world production of such impor- 
tant staples as fiber, oil, and rubber would keep pace with the world 
demand, that there would be a free and relatively unrestricted ex- 
change of these staples, and that there existed no danger of either 
an immediate or a future shortage of any of these materials. 
There has existed, furthermore, a very limited and inadequate 
understanding of the complex situation that has arisen with the rapid 
development of modern manufacturing industries. There has been 
no general comprehension of the fact that there exists to-day a degree 
of interdependence between different and often widely separated 
industries that was almost unknown 50 years ago. 
The World War brought an awakening with respect to these mat- 
ters. With a decreased production of certain staple products, with 
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