How Edwards got Manila hemp to Panama

Title

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume 6 (Issue No.10) October 1926

Year

1926

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

OCTOBER, 1926 How Edwards Got Manila Hemp to Panama Successful Transplantation of Monopoly Fiber Plant Editor's note.—Manila hemp has ceased very recently to be a Philippine farm mono poly: Japanese have transplanted it to Su matra, where the plantations already yield ing high grade fiber will furnish seed for extension of the industry, and the following extract from The Official Record, U. S. De partment of Agriculture, tells of America’s success in starting hemp in the Panama Canal Zone. The Philippines will not soon take second place as a fiber region, but their planters must bestir themselves and modernize their methods to meet the new competition. In the Fiber Standardization Board, as now organized by laiv, grading is thoroughly attended to; the misgivings in markets abroad will no doubt soon give place to business confidence, as they should. For hemp planters to follow the example set them by sugar planters is the next es sential step. A collection of approximately 1 JOO select ed plants of six of the leading varieties of abaca, or “Manila hemp,” has been brought by H. T. Edwards, Bureau of Plant Indus try, from the Province of Davao, Philippine Islands, to the Canal Zone and planted there. This achievement is tho cnnrpccfnl culmination of twn years’ effort, nn thp narr of the department to establ ish these pl onio in trcpical regions other than the- Philip - Pine Islands Abaca, or “Manila hemp,” is the raw material from which Manila rope is manu factured. The entire world supply of abaca, with the exception of a few hundred bales, is obtained from the Philippine Is lands. The production of abaca is one of the leading industries of the Philippines, Produce antl the exports of this fiber in World were nearly 400,000,000 c ° i pounds. The annual consumpbupply tion of abaca in the United States is about 175,000,000 pounds. The present production of abaca is barely sufficient to meet the world demand for this fiber, and there is a tendency toward a de crease, rather than an increase. Many of the abaca growers are now planting coco nuts in fields that were formerly in abaca, as coconuts require less labor than abaca and there is shortage of agricultural labor in the abaca provinces. Two different plant diseases that have appeared during re cent years have either damaged or entirely destroyed the abaca crop on limited areas. It has been apparent, in view of these con ditions, that an effort should be made to establish the abaca industry in tropical regions other than the Philippine Islands. Frequent attempts have been made in a number of different countries to grow abaca from seed, but the seedlings ordinarily do not come true to type and the results ob tained from this work have been quite un iformly unsatisfactory In 1923 a small shipment of abaca plants was made from Manila to the Canal Zone, and in 1924 a second shipment was made Manila to Washington, D. C., but none of these plants survived the climatic changes and other hardships incident to the long journey. During the early part of 1925, through the efforts of the office of traffic manager, arrangements were made for the routing of a freight steamer from the abaca-pro ducing Province of Davao, in the southern part of the Philippines Islands, to the Canal Zone. It was believed that with this direct transportation it would be possible to suc cessfully ship growing abaca plants from the Philippine Islands to the American Tropics. Having made these arrangements for direct transportation during the months of July and August, 1925, this collection was loaded on the S. S. Ethan Allen at Malita, Davao, and brought by Mr. Edwards to the Canal Zone, arriving at Balboa on October 3. This collection of plants was obtained from five different plantations and includes the leading varieties of abaca in Davao Province. In order to determine the rela tive value of different kinds of propagat ing material, and also to acertain the best Collection Includes methods of packing, Leading Varietie. suckers, and rhizomes. The seed was ship ped both in cold storage and packed in charcoal. Approximately 500 buds, suck ers, and rhizomes were planted either in soil or sphagnum, about 100 suckers and rhizomes were packed in charcoal, and be tween 800 and 900 rhizomes were wrapped in paper and excelsior and shipped in crates Of the total shipment of 1,438 plants, in cluding buds, seekers, and rhizomes, 1,052 plants, or 73.2 per cent, were alive, and 769 plants, or 53.5 per cent, were in good con dition when the shipment arrived at its destination. Some of the plants in this shipment have been planted temporarily at a quarantine station situated about 9 miles from the town of Bocas del Toro on Columbus Island, near the eastern coast of the Republic of Pana ma. The remainder has been placed in the Plant Introduction Gardens at Summit, Canal Zone. With the possible exception of an occa sional plant in greenhouse collections, these plants are believed to be the only aba ca plants, other than seedlings, that are now growing in tropical America. IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL

pages

5

Media