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.
During ceremonies and at festivals a fermented drink made of sugar cane is served, and in anticipation of its pleasurable effects the Bagobo is willing to expend a considerable amount of effort. The juice of the cane is extracted by means of a press made of two logs arranged in parallel horizontal positions, so that the end of a wooden lever can slip under one and rest in a groove cut in the other (Fig. 28). The cane is placed in the groove and the operator bears his weight on the lever, thus squeezing out the juice. After being boiled with the bark of certain trees and lime juice, the liquor is sealed in jars or bamboo tubes and is stored away until needed.