Manila Hemp

Manila Hemp, the fibre obtained from the sheathing leaf-stalks of Musa textilis, a plant belonging to the same monocotyledonous genus as the banana and plantain, native to the Philippine Islands. It is almost exclusively cultivated in its native country, where the finer fibre is used in a raw state for shawls, etc. It is exported in increasing quantity from Manila and Cebu to England, the United States, and Australia, being the most valuable of cordage fibres and valuable also for paper-making. It is adulterated with New Zealand flax and with hemp.