Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-01-26
BINDER TWINE AND WHEAT CROP

few days ago Senator Mccurber. of
North Dakota introduced resolution
in Congress calling on the Department
or iu.tice 10 make an investigation OF
the binder twine situation. The rcso-
luton comes ms the climax OF :. vide
spread uneasincSS as 10 the probabi
price of binder twine in 1915.
critical situation In binder twine
may not seem particularly important.
But the importance OF the annual wheat
crop X another matter. and binder
twin" to-day is absolutely essential TO
harvesting the wheat. Any man or cor.
poration who controls the binder tw!ne
supply has an immense leverage on the
wheat crop. And 50 per cent OF our
binder t"ine comes from one source.
The McCumbcr resolution tells The
Attorney General In effect to find out
w hat companies and corporations are
engaged in the importation Of sisal and
Manila hemp, and To what extent. il
amy. they control :hc price thereof
and also whether there is any combina
tion which controls or fixes the price of
sisal or Manila twine. An invcstiga-
ton IS not apt 10 he set on FOO, unless
there Is a strong impression abroad
tiers rccen; development, In The
field Of sisal culture has given
thousands OF American dealers and
farmers. rightly OF wrongly, the idea
tina, Investigations nj" in order.
RcgnlntinC fcncaucn Market.
The rev development rces D., the
'!tl- OF Ia Commission Rc-uladora del
Ncrcado de Iicncuucn"--nnd the re.u-
la'lnG commission OF the hencu,tra
marNc,. liencHucn is the plant which
furnishes the raw material for aIsal.
prartically all OF IL IS raised IN The
MEXICAN state ~ Yuca'an, and. as sty,.d
above. 50 per cent OF our binder twinc
fucaian h"ncquen market il tie KEY
to tn" binder twiuc situation and the
commission win the long name has
apparently put itself In control OF the
Ercatun market.
The Yucatar commission makes no
homes about admitting the fact that it
is out 10 establish Il hcnequn2 price
II started with tho idea OF operating
somewhat On the order OF the coffee
Nhiori:at!oa commission Of Brazil
which establishes a minimum price by
nkinG ali growers q certain annual
Offer. II the grower can get more Cor
his coffee, he sells its elsewhere If
he cannot do better, ne sells 10 tho
commission. and the commission is
hnnnc!llly strong enough TO hold thai
coffee until IL can get the price for IL
ana come out clear. Such an arrange
ment prevents any outside interests
from depressing values unGulv.
This Tucatan commission has in I;Le
manner. become the selling represcn-
tative for the henequcn planters. and
every one OF the 400 and over henc-
Hnen growers of Yucatan has plcdg ed
h''iseii 10 sell his product only
through its channels.
Crrhted by Government Act
ne commission was created. in the
hrSt place, by an act OF the State rov-
eminent o! fucatan, so il has Il per-
icctiy sound official standing Its OK
iStence, It's activities. and its proho Mo
future course have a double inIcres,
TOR the people OF the United States In
the hrst place. il Is one of the most
ambitious examples OF ce-opcrativ.
marketing among farmers on record
Ia the second place. it brings about n
state OF affairs fraught with possibilI-
tIcs as regards our wheat crop. Only
lew months ago. when the 1915 crop
was being harvested. we had Il strili-
lhS dem OnStraiiOn of the indispensa-
biiity of the sisal supply in the con-
fusion that resulted when the Mexican
government held up exports.
me lucntncans, however, deny en-
phatcally that any control they may
nave or the market will be anything
but beneficial in its effects. They
point out that while the American
farmer is largely dependent on Yucata-
can hcneducn, the Yucatacan planter is
entirely dependent on the American
farmer, and will be careful to do moth
ing that can be construed as n step
toward getting more money for sisaI
| than the crop is actually worth. For
| the time being hencqucn occupies Il
unique place In tho worlds markets: it
is the one and only thing in its class
But the planter has to remember the
possibility that a substitute may turn
| up any day.
Yucatan produces in tho neighbour
hood of 100000 bales of heneuuen a
year. Over I'm the Philippines they
! raise about an equal amount of a stint
| lar but slightly higher grade fiber.
| The Philippine fibre is needed in the
! making of high grade Manila ropes and
| cables. Some of IL goes to make binder
| twinc. but the fraction that can be
| spared for this purpose only accounts
| for about IL per cent of the United
! States supply There is an African
sisal crop. but it only amounts 10
about 100000 bales Il year The Now
! Zealand production is only one NTH OF
| the African. The Hawaiian Islands
! raise sisal, hut the whole crop ia used
/ up by American factories on the Pa :
| cihc Coast, and the bulk OF our binder
! twine is made in New England.
| Competitive Products Limited.
The competitive products of honcoucn
/ are sharply limited. Experiments are
under way to utilize tho shaggy fibre
| OF tho coconnut tree for making twine,
but. according TO experts, the idea is
1 fundamentally impracticable. Venczue-