Vol. XVIII. No. 442. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



107 



feet high, bearing clusters of yellowish-green flowers which 

 are succeeded by young plants known as bulbils. The sisal 

 is not known to produce seeds in Jamaica, Mr. Harris says, 

 nor does the henequeo, although it is stated that elsewhere 

 the latter plant does produce seed capsules. The life of 

 the sisal is from five to ten years, while the henequen, in 

 appropriate situations, lives from ten to fourteen years or 

 longer before poling. The method of propagation is either by 

 using the bulbils or adventitious buds from the flowering 

 pole, or the suckers from the base of the plant. It has been 

 pointed out that the suckers are apt to pole at the same time 

 as the mother plant, and it is therefore recommended that 

 bulbi's be preferably used for propagating purposes. A single 

 pole will produce from 1,000 to 4,000 bulbils. As soon as 

 the bulbils drop off the flowering pole, they should^be collect- 

 ed, and planted at distances of 6 to 9 inches apart in nursery 

 beds, which should be kept weeded and cleaned until the 

 young plants are large enough to be placed in permanent 

 positiops in the field. 



It has been asserted that sisal will grow and flourish 

 anywhere, no matter how poor the soil, but practical 

 experience does not confirm this. On the other hand, wet or 

 rich lands are not suitable, for though the plants may grow 

 quickly in such situations, they are short lived, and the fibre 

 is poor in quantity aud quality. For sisal the best soil is 

 that of dry limestone districts with broken rocky surface, 

 where humus and red earth have accumulated. In many of 

 these islands there are considerable areas of fairly level land 

 op a limestone formation, where the underlying rock is 

 porous, and such lands might be very suitable for sisal. 

 Henequen, although naturally also a limestone plant, appears 

 to thrive better in Jamaica on gravelly alluvium. Both 

 plants delight in light and air, and should be grown where 

 they have full exposure. It must be borne in mind that 

 small plantations in isolited situations, unless close to a 

 factory, cannot pay. 



In very poor soils, planting at distances of 5 feet by 

 6 feet allows sufficient space for the plants to develop. 

 This distance may, however, be considered the minimum for 

 planting sisal, while on average soils, 6 feet by 6 feet, or even 



6 feet by 8 feet would be advisable. As henequen is a larger 

 growing plant than sisal, it should be planted not less than 



7 feet 6 inches by 7 feet 6 inches apart. 



In planting, holes should be made just large enough to 

 receive the bases of the young plants, which should be taken 

 from the nursery as required, all roots carefully pared o3' 

 close CO the stem, and each plant firmly planted in its hole 

 just deep enough to keep it upright. 



Clean cultivation is not absolutely necessary, but in 

 order to keep down the grass and weeds, two weedings a year 

 will in most places be sufficient. On no account, however, 

 should bush be allowed to grow through the plantation. It 

 has been found that loosening the surface round each plant, 

 and mulching with the grass from between the rows has a 

 beneficial efi'ect. 



The exact age for cutting the leaves will depend on the 

 rate of growth, and this again will depend on the soil 

 and rainfall. It may, however, be put down at from three 

 to three and a half years after planting out in the field. 

 There is no special season for cutting the leaves, as they 

 are maturing all the time: it is generally understood that 

 leaves are mature when they have reached an angle of 

 from 45 to 60 degrees with the ground level. It must 

 be observed that if the leaf is cut before the fibre is 

 mature, this will be deficient in quantity and quality. The 

 fact that a sisal leaf has attained its maximum dimensions 

 does not necessarily indicate that it has arrived at maturity; 



sugar-canes, for example, are fully grown long before they are 

 considered to be fit for the mill. 



On the other hand, when leaves are ripe they should be 

 cut, or they will begin to deteriorate, and over-ripe leives 

 will also yield a poor grade of fibre. 



Fibre should be at least 3 feet long, and plants ar« 

 ready for cutting when mature leaves of at least this length 

 are to be obtained. 



The first cutting will include all the lower leaves, many 

 of which will be dead, and others too short or otherwise 

 unsuitable for decorticating, but they should be removed 

 close to the trunk; this is imporfant in order that the batt 

 end of the leaves shall be smooth and even; care must also be 

 observed to prevent immature leaves being mixed with the 

 ripe ones, as the fibre would thereby be materially depreci- 

 ated in value. When the leaves are cut they should be made 

 up into bundles of convenient bulk, say twenty-five iu each 

 bundle. 



In the Caicos Islands fifteen leaves per plant per annum 

 is said to be the average during the life of a plant, each leaf 

 weighing from |B). to 1 Jb. Elsewhere it is computed that 

 the average number of leaves produced by the plants before 

 poling is 140 to 180, each weighing IJ-tt). Experience in 

 Jamaica agrees fairly well with this estimate. Taking tha 

 weight of each leaf at 1;| lb., with a minimum of 3i per cent, 

 of extracted fibre, 1,000 leaves should give about 43 ft. 

 of dry fibre on average soils. 



Each acre on poor soils, carrying 1,4.52 plants at 6 feet 

 by 5 feet, yielding, say, forty leaves per plant each year, 

 calculating the weight at 1 Bb. per leaf, and the extraction of 

 dry fibre at 3 percent., should produce 1,742 lb. of commercial 

 fibre. The yield of fibre fom plants at 6 feet by 6 feet in 

 suitable soils in Jamaica is put at from f • to 1 ton per acre 

 per annum, and the life of such plants after reaching the 

 cutting stage should be at least three years; therefore each 

 acre of sisal should yield from 2\ to 3 tons of commercial 

 fibre before replanting becomes necessary. 



It is important that the fibre should be extracted from 

 the leaves not£more than forty -eight hours after they are 

 harvested. When exposed to the sun and air for any time 

 after being cut, the leaves lose their natural moisture, which 

 is Useful in cleaning them, and besides, a fermentation 

 is set up, which if long continued injures the quality of the 

 fibre. It is recommended that as soon as the flowering pole 

 appears it should be cut down, unless bulbils are desired, for 

 if it is allowed to grow, the upper leaves on the stem will 

 not develop. 



After the fibre comes from the decorticating machine, it 

 should be hung on lines in the open air for several hours, 

 but too rapid drying is to be avoided. During this 

 bleaching process the greenish tinge of the wet fibre disap- 

 pears. When the fibre is dry, and has been carefully graded 

 it is made up into bales of about 400 tt). in weight and "20 to 

 22 cubit feet in size, and is then ready for shipment. 



In this connexion, the grading of sisal must be emphaised. 

 If the product is to obtain a good name in the market, it 

 must be properly graded. Buyers, especially in large markets, 

 desire to be certain of what they are purchasing, aad this can 

 only be secured by confidence in accurate grading. It is of 

 vital importance for ultimate and permanent success in this 

 industry to insist on absolute honesty and integrity in grad« 

 ing the fibre. 



It is considered that> although sisal fetches a higher prica 

 in the market than henequen, the latter is a more profitable 

 source of fibre in situations suited to it, because of its larger 

 yield, namely up to 5 per cent, of clean, dry fibre- 



