The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1910-02-01
THE HUMAN SIDE OF TWINE

When we drive home from the implement
dealer with our little load of SiSal Irvine for
the coming harvest, we do not often realize
that we are giving that Irvine its final lift on
the journey of many thousands miles which
it has taken months to make. Seldom do
we appreciate when we give it its final
resting place in the binder box that the
first hands which touched it were those of
Maya boy or girl in far off tropical
Yucatan whose ancestors were a great
civilized people, with temples and literature,
centuries before Columbus came ashore in
his red velvet suit
Or, if it is Manila Irvine, the first step in
its long pilgrimage was under the guidance
of a bare-footed, brown-skinned little
Filipino savage, who perhaps never heard
of binder, and whose views of agricultural
implements are pointed stone or
crooked stick.
Yet, if it were not for the industry of
these two widely separated nations. the
farmers of this rich state would still be
obliged to bind their grain with old
fashioned wire, which never worked or with
untrustworthy cotton strand. In fact, the
problem of Irvine was the problem of sue
CeSSful binding for years after the self
binder was an established fact
1t took many years and thousands of
dollars to eliminate this primary drawback
to the early grain growers of the country.
One manufacturer alone spent $4,000 trying
to make Irvine out of grass $35. 900 using
paper as substitute. and SAB, 600 on straw
all in the end to be discarded as unsatis-
factory. Then, after searching the world
with close tooth rake, as it were, it was
found that two hbres could be made to do
the work-Manila and Sisal. The Manila
long, soft and even-had generally been
used in multiple strands for making cable
and cordage while the Sisal-strong, plable
and smooth-was found to lend itself perfect
ly for the manufacture of single strand
c,,rl coli fin dor tod
Then commenced a merry struggle be-
tween the distant races for the honor of
supplying the Irvine which was to make
His Majesty, the American farmer, the
greatest food producer in the world. At
first owing to the established position of
cordage industry, the little brown brother
in the Philippines forged ahead, but he
made no progress in his methods of pro-
duction, using the knife and block and
other simple methods followed by his
primitive forefathers in extracting the fibre.
1t was soon seen that Ssal would either be
the ultimate material to supply this demand
or the demand would not be filled. At this
point of the race a number of clever.
aggressive YuCatecans, educated in the
sciences in this country and abroad, sprang
into the game. They saw the future com
mercial possibilities of the neglected Sisal
plant. At their own expense they built
railroads into the arid, dry territories
where henequen grew. They invented
new machines, capable of cleaning 100000
leaves day, and soon began TO compete
on an equal basis with the Manila fibre.
The Spanish-American war temporarily
advanced the price of Manila fibre to such
an extent that good grades of Manila fibre
commanded a price which was practically
prohibitive for binder Irvine. Therefore,
manufacturers of binder Irvine concentrated
their energy and genius in the production
of a perfect binder Irvine from Sisal. This
required some adjustment of machinery
and some change in methods, but manu-
facturerS of Irvine succeeded so that the
Irvine made from Sisal has for some years
been as perfect and satisfactory as any
binder Irvine ever made from any material.
This has resulted in the increased use of
Sisal, until during the past season not less
than IS per cent, and possibly so per cent.
of the ma terial which went into the manu-
facture of binder Irvine in the United States
was Sisal fibre.
First-cass binder Irvine can be made
from highgrade Manila fibre. but it is very
difficult to make even reasonably good
article of binder Irvine from low-grade
Manila. Before the American occupation
of the Philippine Islands. the Spanish
officials at times eXerted their arbitrary
power for the purpose of maintaining the
quality of the fibre which was produced by
the natives. 1t was not an uncommon thing
for the governor of district to seize
quantity of inferior fibre and publicly burn
it in the middle of the plaza. This was an
object lesson to the natives to produce
better grades of fibre. However, since the
Americans have taken possession of the
Philippine Islands, no authority has been