The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-02
HEMP OF THE PHILIPPINES
How 1t Is Gathered and Prepared for
the Market.

From the New York Evening Post.
IN one product at least, the Philippines
lead the world. Nowhere else has it been
found possible to produce a quality of
nemp to rival that grown in some of the
Philippine islands. The hemp industry is
not one of very large proportions, nor is
il one capable of indefinite extension, for
the possibilities of production endlessly
outstrip the probabilities of consumption,
and this fact must be taken into consid-
Grafton. Thus far from which these facts
are CLEANED, little or no use has been
found for hemp fiber save in the line of
Irvine and cordage, although it probably
has some possibilities in the line of woven
cloths for special purposes. The annual
output of Manila hemp may be taken
roundly as 100000 tons. The value ranges
from $40 to 500 per ton, and the average
total value of the product may be taken
as approximately sS,000000. Unless some
new use can be found for the material,
any great increase in the production would
tend to a reduction in price by which it
could be brought into competition with
materials now used as substitutes, and
the loss would lie with the producer.
The methods employed are of the crud-
est The plant belongs TO the plantaln
or banana family. which sends up a stout
. tEuilh OF siam winch IcuNliC1 llS iheANNA ~
in three or four years. The stalk will
run from six to eight inches in diameter,
and is crowned with long, massive and
archng leaves which are so well known
by ilustra tons There is a central body
of pith in the stalk surrounded by tila-
ments embedded in sappy, vegetable mat
ter The filanents constitute the hemp
of commerce. and their extraction from
the stalk constitutes the process of hemp
production. The cutting is done with
single stroke of knife, which corresponds
to the Cuban machete. The fallen stalk
is stripped of the fiber bearing petioles,
which are cut into ribbons five or SIX
inches In width, and of Va length deter
mined by their growth. The next process
Is where it invites and demands the ge-
MUS of the inventor to devise an instru-
ment or chemical process by which the
sappy vegetable matter may be separated
from the fiber without injury TO the lat
ter In the present system rude trestIe
is constructed supporting a knife secured
by a hinge at one end while the other IS
operated by the upward pull of flexible
stick, acting as a spring, whose force IS
counteracted by attachment to the treadle
controlled by the foot of the worker.
Thus. by gradually releasing the pressure,
the operator regulates the bearing force
of the knife and overcomes the inequaI-
ties of thickness. There might be some
difficulty in the construction of machlhe
which will adjust itself automatically to
the various thicknesses of the petioles ana
the varying tensile strength of the fiber.
IT must also be free from danger of dis
coloring the fiber, to which it is very liable
and which lowers its market value. The
denuded fiber is then dried and is ready
for the market The material arrives IN
small, rough bundles in which it is pack
ed by the peasants. 1t is sorted and weigh
ed out in lots weighing go pounds for
baling. These lots are slowed in roughly
made cribs and are then trampled down
under the feet of the men, who jump ana
dance upon it until there is suitable
quantity in the crib. The crib is then
moved under a rude screw-press, operated
bv four men; who stand on a platform
and turn the screw by means Of capstan
bars more powerful screw-press' work
ed by twenty or thirty men, is then used.
After the mass is reduced to the proper
size il is bound with bamboo, and the
bale of hemp is ready for marketing and
shipment It would seem TO be an excel
lent opportunity to introduce American
presses.