Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

MANILA HEMP

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 580 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

MANILA See also:HEMP , the most valuable of all See also:fibres for cordage, the produce of the See also:leaf-stalks of Musa textilis, a native of the Philippine Islands. The plant, called aback by the islanders, throws up a See also:spurious See also:stem from its underground rootstocks, consisting of a cluster of sheathing leaf-stalks, which rise to a height of from 15 to 25 ft. and spread out into a See also:crown of huge undivided leaves characteristic of the various See also:species of Musa (See also:plantain, See also:banana, &c.). From 12 to 20 clusters are See also:developed nn each rhizome. In its native regions the plant is rudely cultivated solely as a source of fibre; it requires little See also:attention, and when about three years old develops See also:flowers on a central stem, at which See also:stage it is in the most favourable See also:condition for yielding fibre. The stock is then cut down, and the sheathing stalks are torn asunder and reduced to small strips. These strips in their fresh'succulent condition are See also:drawn between a See also:knife-edged See also:instrument and a hard wooden See also:block to which it is fixed. The knife is kept in contact with the block except when lifted to introduce the See also:ribbons. Sufficient See also:weight is suspended to the end of the knife to keep back all See also:pith when the operator is See also:drawing forward the ribbon between the block and knife. By repeated scraping in this way the soft cellular See also:matter which surrounds the fibre is removed, and the fibre so cleaned has only to be hung up to dry in the open See also:air, when, without further treatment, it is ready for use. Each stock yields, on an See also:average, a little under 1 lb of fibre; and two natives cutting down See also:plants and separating fibre will prepare not more than 25 lb per See also:day. The fibre yielded by the See also:outer layer of leaf-stalks is hard, fully developed and strong, and used for cordage, but the produce of the inner stalks is increasingly thin, See also:fine and weak. The finer fibre is used by the natives, without See also:spinning or twisting (the ends of the single fibres being knotted or gummed together), for making exceedingly fine, See also:light and transparent yet comparatively strong textures, which they use as articles of See also:dress and See also:ornament.

According to See also:

Warden, " See also:muslin and grass-See also:cloth are made from the finestfibres of Manila hemp, and some of them are so fine that a garment made of them may, it is said, be enclosed in the hollow of the See also:hand." In See also:Europe, especially in See also:France, articles of clothing, such as shirts, veils, neckerchiefs and See also:women's hats, are made from aback. It is also used for See also:matting and twines. It is of a light See also:colour, very lustrous, and possesses See also:great strength, being thus exceptionally suitable for the best class of See also:ropes. It is extensively used for marine and other cordage. The hemp exported for cordage purposes is a somewhat woody fibre, of a See also:bright brownish-See also:white colour, and possessing great durability and See also:strain-resisting See also:power. The strength of Manila hemp compared with See also:English hemp is indicated by the fact that a Manila rope 31 in. in circumference and 2 fathoms See also:long stood a strain of 4669 lb before giving way, while a similar rope of English hemp See also:broke with 3885 lb. The fibre contains a very considerable amount of adherent pectinous matter, and in its so-called dry condition an unusually large proportion, as much as 12% of See also:water. In a See also:damp See also:atmosphere the fibre absorbs moisture so freely that it has been found to contain not less than 40% of water, a circumstance which dealers in the raw fibre should See also:bear in mind. From the old and disintegrated ropes is made the well-known manila See also:paper. The plant has been introduced into tropical lands—the See also:West Indies, See also:India, See also:Borneo, &c.—but only in the Philippines has the fibre been successfully produced as an See also:article of See also:commerce. It is distributed through-out the greater See also:part of the Philippine See also:Archipelago. The See also:area of successful cultivation lies approximately between 6° and 15° N. and 121° and 1260 E.; it may be successfully cultivated up to about 4000 ft. above See also:sea-level.

The provinces, or islands, where cultivation is most successful are those with a heavy and evenly distributed rainfall. H. T.. See also:

Edwards, fibre See also:expert to the See also:Philip-See also:pine See also:bureau of See also:agriculture, wrote in 1904: " The opportunities for increasing the See also:production of abacd in the Philippines are almost unlimited. Enormous areas of See also:good aback' See also:land are as yet untouched, while the greater part of land already under cultivation might yield a greatly increased product if more careful attention were liven to the various details of cultivation. The introduction of See also:irrigation will make possible the planting of abacd in many districts where it is now unknown. The perfection of a See also:machine for the extraction of the fibre will increase the entire output by nearly one-third, as this amount is now lost by the wasteful hand-stripping See also:process." Hitherto, while numerous attempts have been made to See also:extract the fibre with machinery, some obstacle has always prevented the See also:general use of the process. The exports have increased with great rapidity, as shown by the following table: 1870 . 31,426 tons. 1880 . 50,482 „ 1890 . 67,864 „ 1900 .

89,438 ., 1904 . .. . 121,637 , In See also:

tool the value of the export was $14,453,1.10, or 62.3% of ,the See also:total exports from the Philippines. The fibre is now so valuable that Manila hemp cordage is freely adulterated by manufacturers, chiefly by admixture of See also:phormium (New See also:Zealand See also:flax) and See also:Russian hemp.

End of Article: MANILA HEMP

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
MANILA 		[next]
MANILIUS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries