Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/231

Rh in a small coastwise steamer to the baling presses and warehouses of Manila and Cetra.

Several different species of the genus Agave, including A. Americana, A. vivipara and A. rigida, are found in the Philippine Islands. Both the plant and fiber are known throughout the archipelago as 'maguey'; while the fiber, in the commercial world, bears the name 'Manila aloe.'

This plant was probably first brought to the Philippines from

Mexico or Central America; but when, or by whom, there are no records to determine. It is now grown on all of the larger islands, and as a fiber producing plant is next in importance to abacá. Maguey fiber is used locally in many of the provinces both as a cordage and as a textile material. It is produced in sufficient quantities for export only in the provinces of Ilocos and Union of northern Luzon. In this district rice and corn are cultivated in the more fertile fields, the stony hillsides and other so-called 'waste land' being utilized for maguey. For several reasons maguey seems destined to become an important Philippine product. It is not seriously injured by the long dry season, it can be successfully grown on 'light' dry soils, and its cultivation requires comparatively little labor and but few draught animals, all of which characteristics make it eminently suited to conditions found in many parts of the islands.

The maguey plant consists of a short thick stem which bears an