Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-04-14
BIZ THE GUF.
AMONG THE HEMP PLANTATIONS
OF FUCATAN.
An Industry of Great Importance
to the United States-Some
Funny Business
Special Correspondence Of the RECORD UNION. |

\
heneq',in or yoshqai Properly speaking, it
is the agave or aloe plant, genus of the
amarillas or cactus family, and derives its
name from the port of Sisal. whence it
vas formerly exported. Few people not
directly interested have any idea of the
magnitude of this industry and its i'm
mense importance to the United States.
How many of my readers are aware that
the annual yield of cordage alone manu-
featured in the United States exceeds one
hundred and twenty millions of pounds ?
More than FIVE million sacks made of
hemp are also used every year for handling
cotton-seed, cake and meal; and besides
the product of the cotton, enormous
quantities of fibrous material are used in
handling the crop itself. An immense
| amount of it is also utilized in the grain
crop and its products, especially in the
| shape of g binders Irvine" for harvesting
purposes, the output of which for the cur
| rent year will exceed $4,000 tons-not to
mention the great variety of other uses for
which the material is employed, making
the United States the largest fiber market
| in the world.
During the last year Yucatan exported
! henequin fiber to the value of over three
millions of dollars, American gold, about
six-sevenths of which went to the United
States-New York alone receiving 209, 095
| bales; and during the last twelve months
Uncle Samuel has bought of Yucatan more
than $4,000 hammocks made of sisal
hemp.
Not long ago was talking with w. H.
Larmour, President of the Belfast Ire
! land) Rope Company, and from him
gained some valuable information. lie
states that the fibers Of Mexico are supe-
rior to those of South America, and COM
nand better price both in the United
States and Europe. Of the various species
the most prolific is the bronleiia pita, or
irtLe, which grows chiefly on the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec but that the dgdre sis,-
lana of Yucatan brings by far the highest
price. There are numerous varieties of
the irNc, all yielding fibers of different
quality, from the coarsest hemp to finest
fax. Thread and cordage are made from
it, fine cloth and bagging, and the Yucca
tecos use it for carpets, garments and the
hammock-beds in which they are born and
die. Paper, too, is manufactured from the
| same fiber: the Juice of the irtle is an eff
| cacious caustic for wounds; from its roots
a favorite intoxicant is made, and the In
dams use its thorns for pins aud needles.
Some of the fibers grow to the length of
sixteen feet. 1t is silky as floss, very
strong, and capable of being subdivided
into threads from which gossamer webs
may be woven. 4 few years ago some of
this fiber was sent to England for exper-
mental use, and from it handkerchiefs
were woven which appeared like silver
tissue, but were so strong as to be almost
indestructible.
But much more valuable than irtle is
the slsal or henequin, being closely allied
to the manila of the Philippine Islands.
The main difference between sisal and
other fibers is that while much silkier and
stronger than little pita maguey, etc, it is
about 40 per cent. weaker than manila
Its color is almost identical to that of ma
Mia, and few people notice the difference
in its strength, as sisal is certainly strong
enough for all purposes. Mr.. Larmour
says that his company uses not less than
ten tons day OF 1t.
Sisal grows the year around, It's cultiva-
ton is simplicity itself, the facilities for
its extraction are unlimited, and the plant
seems alike Indifferent to soil, climate and
season.
Mr.. Larmour's visit to Yucatan was in
furtherance Of a scheme by which he be-
lieves this peninsula may produce the best
and cheapest rope-fber in the world-yiz :
the introduction of the manila-hemp plant,
(IHusa rosdcea) lin conjunction with the
species now grown. Manila belongs to the
genus Of indigenous plants, indigenous to
Asia, and including the banana and plan
tain. 1t much resembles the banana, and
gets its name from the port of Manila,
whence for many years it has been largely
exported. 1t is native of Tuzon, the
largest of the Philippine Islands, group
lying in the tropics north of Australia and
southeast of Asia. The plant grows read
lily from seeds, and also from shoots and
" suckers" and when cut down quickly
sprouts up again from the same root 1t
can be grown as well in one tropical coun-
try as another, and often attains the hight
of % feet having only one tuft OF leaves,
away up at the top.
Since lS43 the entire amount of sisal
and manila hemp combined, received into
the United States, amounts to almost two
billions Of pounds, not including what has
gone 10 Canada and other countries. About
seven years ago the raw material touched
its lowest value, Sl10 per ton; in eighteen
months thereafter it jumped up to $3.50
per ton, and its market value is now, | be-
lieve, $195 per ton. AT that figure it
would pay well to make business of rails
ing manila next door to the United States,
its largest market, on this peninsula, which
has the same soil and climate as the Phil
ippine Islands, and lies in about the same
latitude.
1t requires about four years for the plant
to mature from the seed, and it should be
treated as the Sisal-planting seeds in sue
cession in different parts Of the country, so
that when one crop is gathered another
may be ready, and thus the picking kept
up all the year. Cultivation does not give
more strength to manila, but its fibers
grow longer under proper care, and the
same machinery which is now in general
use for sisal, could be employed for the
Philippine product.
The principal henequin exporter of Yu-
catan tells me that it is the belief of many
well-informed men, both in this country
and the United States, that no natural
product of Central America and Mexico
will SO well repay industry as the fiber
plants, of which an inexhaustible supply
is indigenous. while throughout the globe
exists an mfailing demand. Whatever
wars, panics and monetary depressions
may interfere to prevent the carrying on
of other industries, the nations of the
earth must be clothed and fed, and the
great land products-wheat, corn and cot
ton-must be moved. BY the use of fiber
made articles, such as bagging, Irvine and
cordage, these immense products are
packed and prepared for transportation,
centuries of test and experiment having
proved that these articles provide the best
and cheapest modes of doing So. All this
does not make account of the vast quanti-
ties used at sea and for seines and other
fishing purposes. During the last few
years the henequin export from Mexico
has increased ten fold. Already it assumes
the second place ON the export list-pre-
cious metal coming irst-and the day is
not distant when it will out-rank all
Others, for mines must be exhausted in
time. while natures bounties never fail.
| Trfie. sisal and maguev now paw an