A hemp-press employing 60 men and boys should turn out 230 bales per day. Freight by mail steamer to Manila in the year 1890 from Albay ports beyond the San Bernardino Straits, was 50 cents per bale; from ports west of the Straits, 37½ cents per bale.
In the extraction of the fibre the natives work in couples; one man strips the bast, whilst his companion draws it under the knife. A fair weekʼs work for a couple, including selection of the mature plants and felling, would be about 300 lbs. However, the labourer is not able to give his entire attention to fibre-drawing, for occasionally a day has to be spent in weeding and brushwood clearance, but his half-share interest covers this duty.
Shipping Hemp in the Provinces
The finest quality of hemp is produced in the Islands of Leyte and Marinduque, and in the Province of Sorsogón, especially Gúbat, in Luzon Island.
Previous to the year 1825, the quantity of hemp produced in these Islands was insignificant; in 1840 it is said to have exceeded 8,500 tons. The average annual shipment of hemp during the 20 years preceding the American occupation, i.e., 1879–98, was 72,815 tons, produced (annual average over that period) approximately as follows, viz.:—in Albay and Sorsogón, 32,000 tons; in Leyte, 16,000 tons; in Sámar, 9,000 tons; in Camarines, 4,500 tons; in Mindanao, 4,000 tons; in Cebú, 2,500 tons; in all the other districts together, 4,815 tons.
Albay Province is still the leading hemp district in the Islands. A small quantity of low-quality hemp is produced in Cápis Province (Panay Is.); collections are also made along the south-east coast of Negros Island from Dumaguete northwards and in the district of Maúban[4] on the Pacific coast of Tayabas Province (Luzon Is). For figures of Hemp Shipments, vide Chap. [xxxi]., “Trade Statistics.”
The highest Manila quotation for first-quality hemp (corriente) during the years 1882 to 1896 inclusive was ₱17.21½ per picul, and the lowest in the same period ₱6.00 per picul (16 piculs = 1 ton; 2 piculs = 1 bale), whilst specially selected lots from Sorsogón and Marinduque fetched a certain advance on these figures.
Albay Province (local) Land Measure
| 1 Topon | = 16 square Brazas = 53.776 English square yards. |
| 312½ Topones | = 1 Pisoson = 5,000 square Brazas. |
| 312½ Topones | = ½ of Quiñon = 2½ Cabanes = 3.472 acres. |