Abacd. (Fig. 398 ; also Fig. 142, Vol. I.) Abaci' or Manila hemp is derived from the sheath ing leaf-stems of the abaci plant, Musa textilis, Nee., a perennial belonging to the Musame or Banana family. [See account in Vol. 1, page 125.] The fiber, as found in our market, is six to twelve feet in length, rather coarse and stiff, reddish yel low to nearly white, light in weight, and the better grades remarkably strong. The approximate break ing strain of the current abaci ropes of different sizes is as follows : The abaci plant is very similar in appearance to the banana plant. It consists of a stalk or trunk six to fifteen inches in diameter, and six to fifteen feet high, made up of herbaceous, concentric, over lapping leaf-stems, bearing at the summit long, pinnately-veined leaves. (Fig. 298.) It reaches maturity when two to five years old. A flower stalk pushes up through the center of the trunk, emerging at the top where it bears a cluster of flowers, followed by small, seed-bearing inedible bananas. The stalk then dies, but meanwhile two to twenty others of various ages are growing in a rather open clump from the same root. The fiber is composed of the fibrovascular bundles near the outer surfaces of the leaf-stems.
Abaci, is native in the Philippines. It has been distributed throughout the greater part of the Philippine archipelago, and also has been intro duced into Guam, Borneo and the Andaman islands. It is cultivated commercially only in a comparatively small part of the Philippines. The most important abaci districts are the Camarines, Albay and Sorsogon in the southern part of Luzon, and the islands southward, Mindoro, Marinduque, Masbate, Samar, Leyte, Cebu, Negros and Mindanao.
A heavy and evenly distributed rainfall, sixty inches or more, and a continuous warm temperature are essential to the successful growth of abaci. A rich, deep, well-drained, mellow soil, containing plenty of humus, is necessary for well-developed plants. The best abaci latex (plantations) are on the southern and eastern coasts, and on the lower slopes of old volcanoes. Abaci is grown on the same land ten years or longer, without rotation or the application of fertilizer. While the plants sometimes persist in low land, they will not make a good growth in swampy ground or where the soil remains saturated about their roots.
Abaci plants may be propagated by seeds, root cuttings or suckers. In practice, suckers are used almost universally, except when they must be trans ported long distances. Good seed is difficult to secure, since cultivated plants are cut before the seed is ripe ; and, furthermore, it is of very un certain germination. Seeds must be germinated in a carefully prepared and protected seed-bed, and the seedlings transplanted to the field. Suckers or
root-cuttings are set out directly in rows nine to twelve feet apart each way, or about 225 to 530 plants per acre. Sweet-potatoes ("camotes") or some other crop are sometimes grown with abaci. The grass and weeds must be cut every two or three months, and the soil immediately around the abaci plants kept loose to allow a free growth of suckers. Experiments on the San Ramon Government Farm indicate that abaci plants make a much better growth on land plowed before setting and then kept well cultivated by horse-power cultivators, than on land merely cleared and burned over, then culti vated with sweet-potatoes, as is the usual custom. Unless shade trees have been left at intervals of twenty to thirty yards, corn should be planted between the rows to serve as a partial shade and Protection from the wind.
The stalks are cut between the flowering and fruiting stages. If cut earlier or later the fiber will be of inferior quality. The first stalks are ready to cut twenty to thirty-six months after planting, and afterwards the fields are cut over about once in eight months until the plants become unproductive at the end of fifteen to forty years. The new plants continue to grow as the older ones are cut. The plants are cut with a sharp bolo, leaving the stump three to six inches high, slanting so as to shed water.
Immediately after the stalk is cut the leaves are trimmed off. The outer fiber-bearing surface of each successive leaf-stem composing the trunk is then stripped off with the aid of a bone knife. The fiber is cleaned by drawing these fresh green strips between a knife and a block of wood, the knife be ing pressed against the wood by means of a spring pole. The work requires strength and skill. Twenty five pounds of clean dry fiber is a fair day's work. The annual yield of fiber varies from 300 to 1,000 pounds per acre, the average being probably not far from 500 pounds.
Abaco fiber is used in the Philippines for making hand-woven cloth, known as "tinampipi" and "sina may." The fiber for this purpose is selected and tied end to end, not spun into yarn. It is ^iso usod for domestic cordage. Nearly all of the abaci fiber exported is used in making twines and cord age. It is used for the best grades of binder twine, well-drilling cables, power-transmission rope, hoist ing rope, and for nearly all marine cordage. Old manila rope, especially worn-out marine cordage, is used to make " rope manila paper." Abaco rope of the best quality has a working strength about twice as great as sisal. Standard or current abaci is about one and one-half times as strong as sisal. It is also lighter and more durable.