ABACA
"Manila hemp," as it is so commonly called, is not really hemp at all,
but a plant closely related to the banana and so strongly resembling it
that some persons are unable to tell the difference. The correct name
for this is abaca (ä'-bä-cä), and it is probably the most important
crop produced in the Philippine Islands. Nowhere else in the world
does it grow so well, and in southern Luzon where Francisco lived,
the soil is especially well suited for its cultivation.
Francisco's father had a good many acres devoted to it, and his crop
yielded him a good income. A field is planted by setting out, at
regular intervals, shoots from old plants. Three years are required
for these shoots to grow to maturity, and a planter must therefore
be willing and able to wait a long time before he can harvest his
crop. An abaca plant grows to a height of ten feet or more, bearing
long fanlike leaves that wave gracefully in the breeze and shut out
the sun's rays so completely that noontime in an abaca field is like
twilight. The stem consists of crisp, juicy, green leaves rolled
tightly together around a central stalk. These stems are often eight
or ten inches in diameter, and it is from the tightly rolled inner
leaves that the fiber which constitutes the crop is secured.
When the proper time comes, the men go out into the field with their
sharp bolos (bo'-los), heavy knives much like corn knives, and cut off
the abaca plants close to the ground. They tear away the leaves and
the green outer part of the stem, which they leave on the ground for
fertilizer. The white inner part comes from the plant in long strips
and is drawn through a machine that presses out the water and pulp,
leaving only the fiber, in long white strands. These are hung up
in the sunshine to dry and bleach, after which they are tied into
bundles and hauled in carabao carts to market. New shoots grow out
from the old stalk so that a plantation constantly renews itself.
The planter usually sells his abaca to a shipper who has a baling
machine and large warehouses in some seaport town, with his own wharves
for loading the freight on steamers bound for Manila or foreign ports.
During the shipping season these warehouses present scenes of busy
activity. Outside is a large courtyard crowded with carabao carts
piled high with fresh abaca which men are weighing and sorting as it is
unloaded. From within can be heard the rattle and rush of the baling as
men and boys, urged by the shrill commands of their foreman, run around
a circular track turning a great wheel that puts the pressure upon the
bales. Extending from the warehouse to the vessel is a long line of
noisy taos (tä'-os), or workmen, carrying the heavy bales out on the
wharf and over the side of the steamer to be stowed away in the hold.
All kinds of rope, from the heavy cables used on board ship to the
small ropes used on the farm, and even string and thread are made
from abaca. Carpets are woven from the fiber. In Paris, hats of the
finest quality are made from it; and in the Philippines similar uses
are made of it. Many Filipino households have their own looms on
which they weave sinamay (sin'-ä'mäy) and pinalpog (pï'-nal-pog),
beautiful and durable cloths which are used for making men's shirts,
and also women's waists and dresses. It is woven into handsome
patterns in various colors. Sinamay is of rather coarse texture,
while pinalpog is as fine as linen, having a glossy sheen which is
secured by pounding the fiber in a mortar before weaving. Sometimes
threads of silk are woven in with the abaca fiber and the cloth is
then called jusi (hoo'-si).
Francisco's grandmother, whose house was not far away, made her living
by weaving abaca; and she wove a number of very handsome patterns from
which Maria's best dresses were made. The women of the Philippines
wear waists, with open flowing sleeves and very large collars that
fasten like a scarf in front and extend in a V shape from the shoulders
almost to the waist line. It is a custom among Filipinos to decorate
the sleeves and collars of especially nice dresses with hand-painted
designs. Maria had some artistic skill and had so decorated two of
her waists, one with a cluster of flowers and the other with a small
view of Mayon Volcano.
It is easy to see that abaca, with the many uses it is put to in the
Philippine Islands and the many articles into which it is manufactured
abroad, is of great importance among Philippine products. As American
enterprise extends its cultivation, and introduces new and improved
methods of harvesting and transportation, its importance as a source
of wealth is sure to increase.