Evening star., 1900-06-30
It's the Most Profitable Crop in the
Philippines.
CHANCE FOR AMERICAN CAPITAL
Is Easily Raised and is Harvested
the Year Round.
VISIT TO A PLANTATION
Copyrighted, 1900, by Frank C. Carpenter.

Copyrighted 1900, by Frank G. Carpenter.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
DAVAO. May l, 1900.
The Philippine Islands could furnish gal
lows enough to hang the whole human
race Their chief product is hemp, and
they sell about eighteen million silver dol
lars worth of it every year. You see hemp
spread out to dry in the streets OF the
principal towns. 1t is carried in from the
country on buffalo carts or on the backs
of men. and many petty Chinese mer-
chant has made his fortune by dealing IN
il. We pay every year several million dol
lars for the Manila hemp which We use ii
is sent to New York, Boston and other
cities and there made into all kinds OF
rope, from clothes lines 10 cables. A vast
deal of it goes to the northwest to make
binding twine for harvesting. Some OF II
is employed in our gold, silver and iron
mines, and the finer qualities are mixed
with silk and used in weaving. 1t is made
into hammocks. 1t is used for nets and in
Paris it goes into making of hats, tapestry
and carpets. From the waste and OLD ropes
Manila wrapping paper is made, and here
in the Philippines the finest OF the nDer
mixed with the threads of the pineapple, is
woven into dh exquisite stun known as
Jusi cloth, which the American ladies buy
for party dresses and which is commonly
used by the richer of our Filipino sisters.
mere ar lhoue'tus y. NJ ~ a,,1
iSiaho9 VINO tiNt oii ny n'i.p - a,ia a,i
there are ihetcnail,s neis noa. M,o no bnnI
icrpuses out VI shippills .nI pi - et, a..
o'iii. VI 'ite 'S-n -, Dii ,' -. ,s.;,.
ard raising hemp. and in the future there
VIII be many Americans engaged in the
different branches of the industry.
Where the Hemp Comes From.
.ba how n, in
every one of the Philippine Islands. There
arc provinces in Luzon which are support
ed almost entirely by it, and the Islands of
Leyte and Samar raise thousands of bales
of t. a,.ar, ,.oar Whom toe norris of the
49,, D,,;,;,,,,;,,o. ,,.o.,,. 1,>c,,.,7
'eln pa y, ,,rea IA ,h,,a,d bafes ware
up f,potit d iiuit,'. 's .iio,.i - -.
to"i' the'e iet'"s ioi ,ii1 - .1,o,
u''s 'ileie 81 aie - IpiI;1it " ~ .'N'i'
svr!S out I'm 81. l., t., .Io
ine VI "'ien is one of of The
i. , AZ ~ ' iII; ~ ~ CO
peS, ~. he'ip uist - e'u,,s NJ ,,i,1
nliiii"h p,uison " .nJ stu'i "'nuus ,
ErSa. ue.ti vi IL - piouutIu III ,,,l iiiu 81
G h f.t on bro arn conns from
SUM, 'ie VI ~. i.' mp ia - % - IN
n.iI an 'ie - ~ ;r; - '~ h;h
ii'-s4,' . 80 tl ;;. - ~
IL E o ;,ti.,a ~ - MI haio d. of
ipiii d,s i,id III ,int ~ a,i1
,1 ru;t.,' - III tri,, 49,, +orni,l,5
ar, - a,t ,;ht - ,,oS. 49,, ,;,,, &C
anu ,,,o .r,, 10 g. ;s e. far H. pbi,i,nio.,
IA &c a - ~ , l"a u. ~, Ip.p.lI
H.bcra The bern, Mani has haen euccess-
IN, .n. ''eiip at p1r.t' "a baa,, r,nde -
s uls ~ a. III -. .da ii,,t a. 90. ~
80 ~ IN s,,annadad 'A "-'' so 10"
'''''' it'
Visit t" n Hemp Plantation.
I spent this morning going through one
of ~ ,o.s. a+ tho han,,, ,1.n,,,;or. of
u ','o i"i VI ,"e iiei'ip pam 'i''i7 VI
Mihaaha'' II you nave ever seen banana
grove you can imagine how the plantation
looks The hemp pant or Abaca as it is
bere c.lled is tho Nuea Taxti,is a snecas
- -. ..:,. o,:,, ,,..
oi me saiiie la,iiiiy as tiie eoiris 'a,,aiia' '
w~hose ~ po.aHlcdi hahe - the nu.a ai d
~alS'ica- ~ "A hethp .rte LOOKS Just nhe d
banana Tree; 1t is n.ore lore oi plan. si'ah d
hata, pr up lt"',t 'nu s,otu f,. - -
'isn' VI ii"iii 'Meii,s 70 -T iet;
composed "i many leaNes "fdppu fo.'ld
anu round ABOUT a central stalk, whlch.
"heh the p,aht Is 1uii grown, towers high
each a foot wide, and ten feet nr more
long. AS they grow upward they branch
out from the stalk, shadlng the ground.
ne heihp .Jilies , I'm .iie iiilisi odNes'
tra1 ster tberc ha;np On manv nf nav
that the plant at its base is from eight to
ten inches thick
A. it stands in the field the plant stalk
is as crisp and iuicy as a stalk of celery
and it can easily be cut down with a cary
ing knife. The men I saw cutting used
bolos the same knives that the,, 1,sa for
cuttina off heads. They are NOT 1nIxe orr
corn cutters save that thew are beaviar
and that as a usual thing thew are kcnt as
sbarp as a razor
| had to go some distance from, navao IN
roach the hemp plantation After on.
tered II I kent close to INV pnide for II
was so large that 7 might bave lost nn,'eeIf
In 81 and snent days findint. NV w,y ont
There were thousands upon thousands Of
these ahaca or bemn nlants vnaking a weri.
table forest or rather a innpia IN which
tbcro wern neither roads nov n.tbs Tba
plants were about six or eight feet apar.
and tbav shaded the GROUND CO +bat ,,o
w.Iked in semi-darkness In Going throusn
a. aI,bom.b ~ US ai,,o.t 7niaS, So
and then We stumbled upon a cocoanut
tree. pu. as d .ule theIe was notnins Out
staiL bad hsen c,'t ont hut snro,,,s go
growing up from the bottom. and am told