8 
BULLETIN 930, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
mately 7.2 per cent of the total production of Yucatan for the same 
3 r ear. During the first five months of the calendar year 1920 the Phil- 
ippine Islands produced 66,912 bales of maguey fiber, whieh was 
approximately 20 per cent of the production of Yucatan sisal for the 
same period. 
The production of binder-twine fiber in all countries other than the 
Philippine Islands is conducted as a large-plantation industry. This 
is primarily due to the fact that the economical production of a good 
quality of binder-twine fiber involves the use of expensive fiber- 
cleaning machinery. The economical operation of this machinery 
requires a large and dependable supply of leaves, such as is ordinarily 
Fig. 3. — A maguey field at San Miguel, Ilocos Norte Province, Philippine Islands. 
obtainable under conditions found in tropical countries only on large 
and well-organized plantations. 
One of the fundamental problems, therefore, in encouraging the 
increased production of maguey and sisal fibers in the Philippine 
Islands is to increase the number of large plantations. 
IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN THE MAGUEY INDUSTRY. 
The reforms most urgently needed on the Philippine maguey plan 
tations are better preparation of the land that is used for field plant- 
ing, the establishment of nurseries, the use of larger and more 
vigorous sucker plants, wider spacing between the rows and between 
the plants in the row, improved cultivation, and a radical change in 
the methods of harvesting the leaves and cleaning the fiber. 
