Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-16
MANY FIBER PLANTS
Source of Prospective Wealth
Of Philippines.
WORK OF HAND LOOM
BEAUTIFUL FABRICS MADE BY
THE NATIVES.
Every Visitor to the Islands Sends
Many Specimens Home to
His Friends.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM f.. CURl1S.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
MANILA May Is, 1904.
1t is grateful privilege to be able to
drop politics for while and talk about the
useful work that is' being done over here
by the agricultural, forestry and mining
bureaus. For in them the future prosperity
of the islands largely lies. The less poll
tics people have over mere the better 1t will
DO for all concerned. There is altogether
too much already and too little practical ap-
pica ton of enterprise ard labor to the de-
yelopment of the material resources of the
country. If Congress would pass resolu-
tons promising self-government or indie
pendence to the Fil1pnoS as soon as every
native ever twenty-one years of age owned
his home and cultivated with his own hands
an area of six acres, as soon as every
irhabitant could read and write an extract
from President Roosevelt's essays on "A
Strenuous Life" it would be doing sensi-
BILE thing, or even If property and educa-
tional test for suffrage and office holding
We're Established it would be better than
nothing The two strongest characteristics
of the Filipino are his desire for an office
and his reluctance to work for living III
one were made dependent on the other IL
would certainly stimulate indust. and &C
COIHpHSn 1nuCH LOT the 3 gu VI lilS iSihhue'
The Philippine archipelago abounds in
fiber plants of great economical value, and
they may be considered the greatest source
of present and prospective wealth. some
are natural and some are cultivated, al
though up to this time many of the natural
fiberS have been practically ignored and the
cultivation of others has been of the rudest
and most primitive description. and without
proper knowledge or implements. The de-
velopments of these sources of wealth is re-
ceiving scientific attention from the agri-
cultural department here and Will be en-
couraged in every possible way by the gov
eminent. And 1t offers the most promising
opportunities for the investment of capital
l know ola sure road to wealth for any
one vino is willing to accept the conditions
which are residence in q hot, humid. I'M
comfortable climate separation from so
ciety and ordinary modern diversions. and
the application of the usual amount of pa
thence, intelligence and Industry.
Fabrics From Hand Looms.
Every visitor who comes to the Philip
pines takes away or sends home to friends
specimens of several beautiful fabrics made
by the natives upon hand looms of the
most primitive patter nfrom vegetable fibers
They are known grass cloth or Canton
linen pima. just pronounced hoosie) and
other native dress material which IS as hne
as the finest linen. They are all made
from native plants. The industry might be
developed with great profit, but 50 far 1t
is confined to the cabins of the natives
and the products are intended for home
use only. Sufficient quantities have been
been produced to bring them into market.
Only recently has an enterprising woman
and the women over here are much more
Industrious, enterprising and business-ike
than the men has set up shop for the
sale of these fabrics, the first in the Is
lands. She buys direct from the household
weavers, but fast as her shelves are
filled they emptied again by tourists
and Americans who send their purchases
home to friends in the United States. The
holiday costume of the native women are
made of these materials.
Grass cloth or Canton linen is perhaps
better known than any of the others be-
cause the Chinese have manufactured 1t for
centuries, and the largest stock and the
best quality can be found in the ancient
city of Canton as fine as the finest linen
and much tougher than that made from
fax. 1t is woven from the ffbers of the
ramie plant, otherwise known China
grass or Canton grass
J. w. Gilmore of the bureau of agricul
ture, who is expert in fiber, says that
the plant is in all probability a native of
Java Sumatra, although it has been Gull
tivated in China for many centuries. 1t
has never been produced on a commercial
scale in the Philippines and comparatively
little is grown here. 1t differs materially
from other fibers in that it grows between
the bark and the stalk of the plant like
the nerves of the body. 1t also serves the
purpose of arteries and veins, conducting
the sap from the roots upward. 1t Is not
into very fine threads, is as soft as silk.
is one of the strongest and toughest fibers
known, and takes dyes readily.
A Limited Supply.
The supply is limited to countries where
la Dor is cheap and abundant, which is well.
for yet no machinery has ever been in
vented which can produce fiber as cheap
as tough fine and as clean as that made
by hand. The plant Is a perennial grass
and from four to twelve stalks an inch or
two in diameter grow from single root
to the height of from five to seven feet
When it has reached the proper age it is
cut close to the root, the stalks are boiled.
the bark Is stripped off and the ribbons of
the fiber which envelop the central trunk
of the stalk are carefully removed and
hung out in the sun to dry. \ gummy SUBJ
stance adhering to the fiber is removed by
washes of alkali. and when that is done
the ribbons are tied together at one end
and carefully combed with wooden combs
until the fibers are separated. The more
it is combed the finer, the more lustrous
and pliable 1t becomes A small quantity
is exported to France and Germany for the
adulteration of silk. and it's cultivation for
that purpose in these islands would be
profitable.
The plant may be propagated by seeds
cuttings or by division of the roots and
need not be renewed for ten or twelve
years, although the soil around it must be
kept free from weeds in order that 1t NAV
have all the nourishment 1t needs and rain
may reach its roots. 1t requires plenty of
heat and moisture. and there are vast areas
in the Philippine archipelago admirably
suited to its cultivation.
Made From Pineapple Fiber.
The pima cloth, which is even more char
acteristic of the Philippines and is the IA
vorite dress material of the native women.
is made from the fiber of the ordinary pine
apple, which is a native of Brazil and was
introduced into the Philippines by the friars
In the sixteenth century. Elsewhere
the pineapple is cultivated for its fruit,
and the leaves are usually thrown away.
Notwithstanding their great economic
value. for the fiber has a fineness and
strength even greater than that of the ra-
ME, and is especially suited for lace eauze
and other very sheer fabrics In southern
China and in the Philippines it is grown
more for the fiber than the fruit, but it has
never been carefully cultivated It thrives
In almost all of the islands. In some
places it grows wild, and the area suitable
to its production is practically unlimited
AS an adulterant of silk it Is quite as val
liable as ramie, If not even more so.
Where 1t Is grown for the fiber the fruit
Is cut Immediately after the Towering. In
order that all Of the strength of the nIant