into various designs by means of metal dies. A wooden cone is used as a
form, about which the wire is placed in order to shape and measure it.

Hemp[20] grows wild in the Davao District and the Bagobo have, for
generations, used it in the manufacture of their clothing. In recent
years the demand for fiber has shown the people an easy way to secure
the trade articles which they desire and, as a result, rather extensive
plantings are found even in the more remote districts. The women strip a
large part of the fiber in local use, but all that prepared for trade is
produced by the men. When the ever-present cogon grass begins to invade
a clearing, the young hemp is planted. In about eighteen months it has
grown to a height of some sixteen feet and is ready to be cut. The man
goes to the fields, cuts down some stalks and, having removed the
leaves, splits off the outer fiber layers from the cellular matter of
the interior, using a bone knife for this purpose. When he has
accumulated a sufficient number of strips he carries them to the hemp
machine (Fig. 27). This consists of a knife which rests on a wooden
block. The handle turns on a pivot and the end is drawn upwards by means
of a bent twig, or sapling, which acts as a spring. This spring is
lowered and the knife blade raised by means of a foot treadle; a strip
of hemp is laid on the block; the foot pressure is removed, and the
knife descends. Taking a firm hold of one end of the strip, the operator
draws it toward him under the blade, thus removing the pulp and leaving
the free hemp threads. These are hung in the sun until dry, when they
are tied in bundles ready to be carried to the coast. The work is hard
and, unless necessity forces him to greater effort, a man seldom engages
in it for more than three or four days in a month. He thinks his duty
ceases with this expenditure of energy and, unless he is fortunate
enough to possess animals or slaves, is quite content to allow his wife,
or wives, to carry the product to the coast trader.