The Jasper news., 1922-01-12

&Es4A themselves makers or.
users Of agricultural ma
- chinery, that on the uni
form size and tensile
strength of that twine depends the'I
smooth operation Of the harvester, and
hence, ultimately, in a great degree.
the bread supply of the world. The
binding attachment, added to the reap
er, transformed it into harvester"
in the fullest sense, and the humble
twine, Which superseded wire in the
binding Of grain, may be said to be the
crOwning,. adjunct of that greatest of
labOr-saving inventions, the harvester,
as it is known -oday.
If no .arvestlng machines were
manufactured for whole year the
farming community would, undoubted-
ly, be put TO some Inconvenience. but
would manage TO get along with no
serious '0ss. On the other hand, If
the supply of Irvine for one harvest
were suddenly cut of, it would mean
not simply a national. but an inter-
national calamity, as it would be inn
possible to secure help enough to gath
er the crops.
Chicago, the worlds center for 'ag-
ricultural machinery, has very natur-
ally become tile worlds greatest pro-
ducer Of binder twine. Here are To-
Gated the two largest binder twnc fac
tories in the world, having a maximum
capacity of 10000 tons year. few
additional figures will serve to visual
i2e this "ast capacity. 1t takes ap-
prOXimately two feet of binder twine
to bnd the average-sized bundle Of
grain, and the harvester averages 80
bound bundles to the acre. There are
500 feet of binder twine to a pound.
Reducing Chicago's potential 10000
tons to pounds, we get '220 million
pounds, which would bind - million
bundles, help to harvest 73 million
acres of grain, or girdle the globe S33
times.
The bulk of the binder twinc manu-
factured in Chicago is made from the
fiber Of n plant known as sisal. ma
tive Of Mexico. OF this Yucatan Yields
the largest crop, supplemented by
some from Java and East Africa. Ma
Mia hemp fiber from our own Philip
pine Islands is also used here for the
purpose. 1t makes n twine which av-
erages mOrei feet TO the pound than
does the sisdl, but Is more expensive
and not produced in sufficient .quanti-
ties to supply the worlds needs.
1t is to the tropical region of Yucatan,
then, that we must turn our mental
vision to see the very beginning-from
the ground up-of the greater part of
standard binder twine industry. The
sisal plant, or henequen as II Is known
in Yucatan, looks something like a
century plant with low core, and
stiff pulpy leaves standing up around
1t, considerably higher than a mans
head when it REACHES maturity, which
takes about seven years.
A plant yields from 10 to 20 leaves
which the natives cut with sickle
shaped knives from the mature plants
and such is the climate that they car
continue cutting all the year round
The leaves average a little less thar
two pounds in weight. Usually from
to 31a per cent of marketable fiber
or about one ounce, is secured from al
average leaf, making an average O
perhaps one pound from each plant, o.
one thousand pounds per acre. Thi
is the result Of years operations.
Each leaf rs handled individually. |
is first cut from the plant, then tn
spines are removed rom the edge O
the leaf, then the leaves are packed II
bundles Of about so and carried 10 tn
uaarasf tratnvoy From tbara tba,, n -
conveyed to the cleaning plant. whie
is centrally located on each plantation
and then are run through decorticat
ing machine. This machine, as II
name implies. takes of the hard col
tex Of the leaves, aud reveals inside
pulpy substance through which run