The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1922-01-13

enlnery, tnaI on the UNI
form size and tensile
strength OF that irvine depends the
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 a harvester"
In the fullest sense, and the humble
irvine. which superseded wire in the
binding Of grain, may be said TO be the
browning adjunct of that greatest of
Iabor-saving inventions, the harvester,
as it is known today.
II nc harvesting machines were
manufactured for a whole year the
farming community would, undoubted-
", be put TO some inconvenience, but
would manage to get along with no
serious loss. On the other hand. If
the supply of irvine for one harvest
were suddenly cut off, it would mean
not simply a national, but an inter-
national calamity, as it would be i'm
possible TO secure help enough to gath
er the crops
riculturaI machinery, has very natur-
ally become the worlds greatest pro-
Queer of binder twine Here are To-
Gated the two largest binder irvine fac
tories In the world, having a maximum
capacity OF 10000 tons a year. A few
additional figures will serve TO visual
lie this vast capacity It takes ap-
proximately two feet of binder Irvine
TO bind the average-siZed bundle of
grain, and the harvester averages $50
bound bundles to the acre. There are
500 feet of binder irvine to a pound
Reducing Chicago's potential 10000
tons TO pounds, we get 90 million
pounds. which would bind 50 million
bundles, help to harvest % million
acres Of grain, or girdle the globe SS3
times.
The bulk of the binder Irvine manu-
featured in Chicago is made from the
fiber of a plant known as sisaI, a 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 a irvine which av-
erages more feet TO the pound than
does the sisal, 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
the ground up-of the greater part Of
standard binder Irvine industry. The
sisal plant, or henequen as 1t is known
in Yucatan, looks something like q
century plant, with a 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 II to 20 leaves
which the natives cut with sickle
shaped knives from the mature plants,
and such is the climate that they can
continue cutting all the year round
The leaves average a little less than
two pounds In weight. Usually from
TO 31z per cent of marketable fiber,
or about one ounce, is secured from an
average leaf, making an average of
perhaps one pound from each plant, or
one thousand pounds per acre. This
Is the result Of a years operations.
Each leaf is handled individually II
is first cut from the plant, then the
spines are removed rom the edge Of
the leaf, then the leaves are packed In
bundles of about 80 and carried to the
nearest tramway. From there they are
conveyed to the cleaning plant, which
is centrally located on each plantation,
and then are run through a decOrticat-
ing machine. This machine, as its
name implies, takes OF the hard cor
/ tex Of the leaves, and reveals inside a
pulpy substance through which runs