BIXDER-TWINE FIBER IX THE PHILIPPIXE ISLANDS. 5 
maguey fiber in the Philippines, but it did not result in any material 
increase in the production of sisal fiber or in the production of ma- 
chine-cleaned fiber, which is required for the manufacture of binder 
twine. 
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE MAGUEY INDUSTRY IN THE 
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
Maguey and sisal are now grown in nearly every Province of the 
Philippine Islands. The production of fiber on a commercial scale 
is confined, however, to northwestern Luzon, where it is grown in the 
Provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and La L T nion, and to that 
part of the Visayan Islands which includes the islands of Cebu, Bohol, 
Siquijor, and a number of small islands near Cebu and Bohol. There 
are other islands and Provinces where conditions are favorable for 
the cultivation of maguey and sisal, and it is probable that, with the 
more general use of fiber-cleaning machines in the Philippines, there 
will be a gradual extension of the fiber industry into new districts. 
The Ilocos Provinces of Luzon formerly produced the greater part 
of the maguey fiber exported from the Philippines, but there has been 
a rapid growth of the industry in the southern islands during recent 
years, with the result that this region now produces considerably 
more fiber than the Luzon Provinces. During the month of May, 
1920, the production of maguey and sisal fibers in the Visayas was 
8,801 bales, as compared with 4,482 bales produced in the Ilocano 
Provinces. While there is opportunity for further development of 
this industry in northern Luzon, the conditions are more favorable 
in the southern islands. 
Table I shows the areas of maguey and sisal plants under cultiva- 
tion in the Philippine Islands for the last eight years, as reported by 
the division of farm statistics of the Philippine Bureau of Agri- 
culture. 
Table I, — Area devoted to the cultivation of maguey and sisal crops in the 
Philippine Islands for tlic 8-year period from 1912 to 1919, inclusive. 
Year. 
Area. 
Year. 
Area. 
1912.. 
1913.. 
1914.. 
1915.. 
Hectares. 1 
8, 598 
9,283 
18,218 
19,218 
'l916.... 
1917.... 
1918.... 
1919.... 
Hectares. J 
30, 804 
28, 099 
32,601 
28.455 
1 A hectare is euivalent to 2.471 acres. 
While these figures may represent with a reasonable degree of 
accuracy the areas of maguey and sisal that were actually harvested 
during the years mentioned, it is believed- that there was an increase 
in 1919, rather than a decrease, in the total area planted to these 
crops. 
