THE HEMP OUTLOOK.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 21

THE HEMP OUTLOOK.

DEPRESSION IN THE PHILIPPINES.

OFFICIAL REPORTS

(Fxoic Oun Own Correspondent.) LONDON, August 20. | Reports from the Department of Com- ' , merce in Washington have just reached ! JEngJand, and they contain much interest- ; ing information about hemp and 6i>sal j ]>roduction. The ioliowing items w,ill . prove of interest :—: — j In an official report from Manila, dated . | 22nd October. 1908, the Secreta../ of Commerce stated : — The hemp er.» /rted for , the fifccal year 1903 exceeded *hat of the j previous year by 9 per cent., but the falling-off in value was 18.8 -fier cent. As . ! hemp is the principal export of t{ie I islands this fall <n price has caused a j I general gloominess among commercial j I nouses. I Another official report contains the I following : — Commerce continues to suffer I from the tremendous crisis mentioned in , my last report, and the enormous rednc- ' tion in the price of abaca during the j j last few mouths, the worst being that I there is no immediate hope of the price ' ever going up again to what it used to be, or even to a figure which would allow I the property-owner and the labourer to ' j continue in "the business. Comparatively | j speaking, the present prices are lower | [ than those paid in the Spanish times, for i , the simple reason that living was not so | , expensive then as ;t; t is now, and though | ' the price .of abaca has gone down, the ' I price of the rice remains steady or goes ' up, and so do the wages. One of the Provincial Governors reports as follows : — The abaca plantations are in an unprecedented condition, and the area of land cultivated has increased considerably. But, if the view of so many plantations which are teeming in development causes hope, the persistent j fall in the price of this important pro- ' duct produces dismay and desperation. I Since the month oi September, 1907, it I has been seriously falling, and while in the markets of Manila and Cebu the price of the lower grade did not fall below i eight pesos, in the towns of this pro- ' \ ince local merchants were paying only six. If this price continues for some time, it may be said with certainty that total ruin has about arrived for these small farmeis, who, hoping for better prices, ha\e not yet harvested thenabaca. i The report of the Governor of Oiiental Xegros Hays- : — Abaca, one of the products of greatest importance, is quoted ! at a price so low that it causes general j discouragement to the extent that the producers of this textile find themselves

' obliged to abandon its cultivation or see themselves ruined. While the Governor of Surigao reports : — Until about a year ago abaca obtained quite a high price, but since then its price has been going down until it is row about half what it was. On this account the production of this fibre has decreased, and the pro ducers all engaged on a small scale only endeavoured to gather what is absolutely necessary to prevent their plantations from spoiling, or to obtain the amount of money they require to meet their pressing needs. GLOOMY PREDICTIONS. The reports throughout with regard to Manila hemp are gloomy, and strongly 1 indicate that at present prices the production of the fibre does not pay and ; would gradually be very much reduced. s The agricultural reports of the United ' States show that maguey and henequin, both different kinds of fibre plant producing sisal, are being largely cultivated i in the Philippines, but here again the I low price of fibre is damping the enthusi- ; asm of growers. Wha.t New Zealand flax farmers want to know is : Will Manila continue to flood the market at its present rate if recent prices continue ? These I reports all go to show that it will not, and , the quotations given above tend to prove this. As soon as the supply' drops off — ; and in a slow-growing crop dike abaca it ■ takes some considerable time to drop off — ] the price is bound to go up. Philippine ; producers' will not continue' to plant and , harvest hemp at recent prices. Moreover, other things being equal, the cost of cultivation of flax is less in New 1 Zealand. A crop of sisal yields less-than half a ton per acre per annum of fibre. New Zealand flax averages one ton, while the sisal plant yields but 2.6 per cent, of fibre, and New Zealand flax produces 12 per cent. The cost of production is not lessening in the Philip- ." pines. The price of rice and 1 other foods and the demand for higher wages have increased. Machinery is being introduced, and some hope is expressed that the cost of production will thus be lessened. The value of the < machinery is discounted by the fact that ' a stripping machine requires a large farm to justify its installation, and yet when ; "installed the bulk of the greeri leaf in I comparison to the fibre it contains makes ■ transit of the leaf to the machine expensive and laborious. Only about 3 per , cent, of fibre is yielded by abaca. These ' considerations tend to show that the , production of Manila must in the near ! future fall, and the price in consequence j rise, and, ■ further, that neither * Manila i nor sisal can actually kill the hemp industry in New Zealand. m