Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-08-11
HAMM0CKS.
MAKING SUMMER COUCHES Is A
YUCATAN INDUSTRY.
Cultivatlng the Sisal Hemp on Plan
tations-How the Fibre Is Pre-.
pared for Market-Prct-
ty Girls at Work.

{ rlNal III IQe Oull6U OldltS. II DeUli
with just imagine yourself in yer.
large field in the famous peninsula o
Yucatan, under a scorching midda,
sun, and not a tree anywhere near
This field and several adjacent ones
are planted with ''agave silalensis, " Al
evergreen succulent plant indigenou
to Yucatan. 1t grows well in ston,
soil and requires little care. Tb'
dark brown natives, perspiring in the
intense heat, are removing the youni
shoots which grow out from the roots
of the mature plant. These shoots
which they call "sons," have beer
left to gather strength from the paren
plant during one year; now they are
to be transplanted elsewhere ten OF
twelve feet distant from each other
This space is necessary because when
mature the leaves are about five feet
long, and as they are tipped with G
very sharp point, the laborers must
have room to pass betwecl them. AT
ter three years growth tine leaves are
ready to be cut; the plant continues
to yield filament for about twelve
wears. after which it runs to seed and
the stems are utilized where they
stand by planting beans there, so that
the vines may twine about them. The
hemp plant is commonly called 'hene-
quen." Another familiar lame for 1t
is "sisal hemp" because it used to be
shipped from the port of Sisal, which
was afterwards abandoned for Pro
greso, from which place some 81, 900,
600 or IS, 900, 900 worth Of the fibre Is
now exported every year, the greater
part being landed in New York.
In one field are found laborers re-
moving the young plants; in another,
transplanting them; while IN third
they are cutting mature leaves from
the stem and throwing them into
wheelbarrows. Their implement is the
machete, heavy steel blade nearly
eighteen inches long The loaded bar
rows are wheele to another part OF
the plantation, where there Is a large
building, in which, with machinery
moved by steam power the flameEt Is
separated from the green part OF the
leaf. This is thrown ont to serve as
fodder as cattle, and they thrive on 1t.
1t also helps to enrich the soil, but
while rotting it burdens the air with a
most unpleasant odor.
In the last few years the machinery
used for henequen has been improved
upon and its dangers somewhat obyle-
ted. Accidents are therefore less
frequent than formerly, but even yet a
workman's hand or arm is occasionally
torn off by being caught in the machine
while feeding it with the leaves. The
natives have their own primitive ways
of extracting the filament. They use
a scraper of very hard wood, foot
long and four inches wide. One end
is carved to form handle; the other,
thin and sharp, is scooped out in the
form of a crescent. There is Il grove
in the leaf. This is placed on round
stick. which is held obliquely. With
the scraper the leaf is then split length
wise in two or three parts, each being
squeezed between stick and scraper.
Another method is to place the leaf on
a fiat board and scrape it with a two
handled wooden knife. Working thus,
the most diligent man can obtain only
twenty-five pounds of filament in day.
When these methods are employed the
work is begun at midnight and aban-
doned at sunrise, because the plant
contains an acrid principle that, with
the heat of the day, blisters the skin,
After the squeezing process the fila-
ment is spread on trestles out IN the
sun to dry and bleach. 1t is then
made up in bales of 800 or 400 pounds,
ready for export or for the home mar
ket, to be converted into hammocks,
bags and cordage. These are most
important industries. Twenty years
ago comparatively few hammocks were
made for expectation, but they were'
as they are yet, the only couch used
throughout Yucatan. Beds are con
sidered uncomfortable. The hammocks
used there cost from 81 to $50 each
Then came the demand for cheap ham
mocks abroad, and the pretty girls and
buxom matrons were set to making
something very much coarser than the
work they were accustomed to---ham-
mocks that they themselves would not
have deigned to rest in-worth fifty
or sixty cents when finished. An ex-
pert can make three or four of these
a day. and receives about
twelve cents for EACH The article is
sold in New York for 81 or little
more. Formerly ell the twine. was
made by hand now this is only done
occasionally. Men and boys twist it I
rapidly. Colored hammocks are made /
by combining red, blue and yellow 4
twine, the dyes being obtained from
the native woods.
II a hammock were made in Yuca
tan it is probably the work OF a pretty T