I In any manufacturing enterprise the question of raw materials is one of the highest importance. No manufacturer can become extensively successful without an intimate knowledge of the material entering into his product. He must be an expert judge of its quality to be able to determine for himself the exact value of what is offered him and its adaptability for his particular purposes; he must be closely in touch with all the markets; he must know all the conditions surrounding the production and marketing of the material; he must be fully posted as to all causes, natural and speculative, affecting the supply or the demand.

To be most valuable, this knowledge must not only cover matters affecting the present, but must forecast the future with the greatest possible degree of certainty. Such foresight is particularly valuable in the cordage business, where material must be provided for many months before it is used. This factor has always been conspicuous in the management of the Plymouth Cordage Company, and has contributed not a little to its continued and increasing growth and prosperity.

For the rope-maker the raw material par excellence is the so-called “Manila hemp.” Strictly speaking this is not a hemp at all, being a fiber obtained from the wild banana plant of the Philippine Islands. The botanists tell us to call this plant Musa Textilis, but the Filipino, who ought to know, calls both the plant and its fiber “Abacá.”

The Philippines have a monopoly of this very important plant, as it has never been successfully cultivated elsewhere. So it will be seen at the start that the user of Manila hemp is dependent entirely upon our foreign possessions in the far East for his supply. Like most monopolists, the Filipino is not particularly susceptible to the wishes of his customers, and the procuring of hemp produced and prepared in the way to make it most valuable for rope-making is attended with some difficulty.

The Abacá is cultivated by setting out shoots of the plant after a suitable tract of land has been cleared. When the field has had proper cultivation for a period of two or three years some of the plants will be ready to cut. They will then be tree-like in shape, and from fifteen to twenty-five feet in height. The stalk, some fifteen feet long, and a foot or more in diameter, is composed of the separate leaf stems growing compactly together in overlapping layers.

The fiber is contained in the outer bark of these leaf stems, their inner portions being of a soft, pulpy nature. After the stalk is cut the native peels off strips of this fibrous bark, and after stripping the outer layer of stems, scrapes off its remaining pulp and proceeds to strip the next inner layer. This process is kept up through all the successive layers. The fiber from the inner layers of stems is finer and whiter than that from the outside.

The fibrous strips are then cleaned by drawing them under a knife hinged over a block of wood. This scraping frees the fibers from the surrounding pulp. The quality of the hemp depends very much upon the thoroughness with which this cleaning is done. By using a smooth-edged knife and putting considerable pressure upon it during the operation, a fiber is secured of high strength and good color. However, this means strenuous work on the part of the operator, and our brown fellow-citizen, like many of his white brethren, is averse to tiring his back; consequently the bulk of the fiber put upon the market is cleaned under knives with rough edges and loosely held against the material. This makes the workman’s task easier and enables him to turn out a larger product, but of an inferior quality. Hence one of the worries of the manufacturer of high-grade cordage.

This, briefly, is the way Manila hemp is extracted from its parent stalk. A fortune awaits anyone who will perfect machinery capable of superseding these antiquated hand methods.

After scraping, the fiber is hung over bamboo poles to dry. When thoroughly dried, it is tied up in hanks and carried to market. In the warehouse of the exporter the fiber is sorted and graded and then packed in bales of 275 pounds. In this form it eventually reaches the cordage factory.

With this description, let us sum up some of the elements entering into the quality of various parcels of hemp, which will be of interest as showing the task imposed upon the manufacturer in selecting the quality of fiber necessary to furnish rope of the required standard. It must be strongly impressed upon the mind that the fact that a certain rope may be honestly called “Manila” is no proof of its strength, durability or general value.

In the first place, there are some fourteen varieties of the Musa Textilis, presenting a like range in the quality of fiber produced. Then each process of gathering and preparation presents opportunities for deterioration: the plant must be cut at just the right time, and if, after cutting, the stalk is allowed to remain too long before it is stripped, the fiber is injured. We have already seen that quality is largely dependent upon the character of the knife used in cleaning and the care given to this operation. Likewise, for best results, the fiber must have proper care while drying.

As all these operations are in the hands of people not noted for industry or carefulness, it will be easily understood that the resulting output contains but a small percentage of really first-class material.

To get an idea of the wide range in quality of Manila hemp, we have but to refer to any broker’s list of offerings, which will show prices varying from six to thirteen cents, or in similar proportion.

For a number of years past prices of Manila hemp have ruled much higher than previously.

This great increase in price has placed the rope manufacturer in a difficult position. He must either use a poorer grade of material in his goods or must raise his prices to a point which, to his customers, may seem excessive.

The reluctance on the part of manufacturers to accept the latter alternative has led to the use of low-grade Manila, and to mixing Manila with inferior fibers (Sisal, New Zealand, etc.), to a greater extent than at any other period in the history of the industry.

The Plymouth Cordage Company, however, has steadily held the opposing position, and has continually been on the alert to secure the grade of hemp necessary to maintain its long-established standard of quality. Not a particle of any other fiber has entered into our Manila rope.

This is because of our knowledge that a high-grade rope can be produced, with the proper facilities, to sell at a price relatively lower than one made from cheaper materials. This, of course, because the advantages of lightness, strength and durability more than outweigh the difference in price per pound. This is true from a strictly dollars-and-cents standpoint, to say nothing of the greater satisfaction in using the better article.

The making of cheap Manila (or so-called Manila) rope has been carried to such an extent that recently signs of a reaction have been apparent. Writers in trade journals are protesting against the lengths to which the cheapening of rope is being carried; buyers are learning that quality and economy are close companions in the rope trade; and so the correctness of our position is being more fully demonstrated every day.