JA^f^JARY I, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST; 



46s 



.-. ?|1°= 14-21, and 14-21 M 5.5 E = "S'lo E., or in 

 loO ' ' 



round numbers £8 per ton. The West Indian fibre has 



been delivered in England at a price varying from £10 to 



£11 per ton. 



Plantain fibre not proving a success, attention was turned 

 to aloe Agave Amci-iciDin, and, on a grant from the Dis- 

 trict Fund Committee being received, expei-iments wero 

 commenced witli a view to ascertain the cost of production, 

 the value, and quaKty, of the fibre. The process of pre- 

 pai-ing and cleaning the fibre was in almost i -^ei-y respect 

 similar to tliat adopted for plantain. The long leaves were 

 cut off close to the .stem, tied in brmdles of 50 and 60 each, 

 and brought up to the null ; they were then passed be- 

 tween the rollers, two and two together, and laid down on a 

 trestle table close by. After a certain number of bundles 

 had been thus dealt mth, the crushed stalks were taken up 

 again and passed a second time thi-ough the mill. The 

 second operation completely expressed the foetid and un- 

 pleasantly odoriferous sap, as well as breaking the outer 

 cuticle of the leaves. This sap blisters and iiritates the 

 skin considerably, and will produce a serious inflammation of 

 the eye, should a stray drop chance to find its way into 

 that organ ; this had to lie guai'ded against, and until the 

 workmen had anointed their anus, legs, and chests with 

 oil, they never set to work. After having passed tlrrough 

 the null a second time, the stalks were taken up and scraped 

 with a blunt knife, to remove as far as possible the 

 gi-een pulp and herbaceous matter, after which the stalks 

 were tied up in convenieut size bundles, taken off to the 

 banks of a " toba" {kutcha^ tank), and buried in wet sand 

 for four or five days. On the fourth day the bundles were 

 taken out, washed in a running stream, lightly beaten with 

 a wooden maul or beater, washed and beaten again, and 

 washed the third time. Aiter the third beating and wash- 

 ing, the fibre was clean and of a didl yellowish color. The 

 bundles were then hung up to dry in the shade, but ex- 

 po.sed to the wind ; during di-j'iug the fibre gained the silky 

 white appearance which in Mexico and South America has 

 gained for it the name of " silk gi-ass. " The next process 

 was that of " heckling." Heckles, the writer had none, 

 but was obliged to resort to the local market. Two were 

 consequently made up, but the only contrivance which 

 indigenous art was capable of producing, was an insti-ument 

 bearing a close resemblance to a small garden rake ; it was 

 certainly better suited for the purpose of "rippling" flax 

 or hemp, than that-of heckling a fine fibre: moreover tlie 

 temper of the metal teeth was inferior, and in drawing the 

 " strick" or lock through the comb, the teeth gave and 

 bent, causing a great waste of long staple, the geater part 

 being left as tow or codilla. Samplesof] fibre, bvisted rope, 

 and tow, were sent to the Calcutta Chamer of Commerce 

 for B professional opinion. The following extract from the 

 proceedings of the November meeting of the Agiicultural 

 and Hoi-tioultural {Society of India shows what chance the 

 fibre has of succeeding as an article of commerce: — 



Mr. W. H. Cogswell, a member of the fibre Committee, 

 gives the following report on the above samples, Mr. S. H. 

 Robinson concui-ring : With reference to the samples here- 

 witli, alluded to in the foregoing memorandum, I beg to 

 observe that the washed and heckled fibre prepared from 

 the Aijave Americana, or common aloe, is about the best 

 I have seen, being beautifully clean, and well freed from 

 the bark or outer skin of the plant ; of good colour, 

 there being but a very slight tinge of greenish which 

 it is 'mpossible to thoroughly eradicate without extra 

 steeping, or the addition of chemicals, to the injury of the 

 fibre; it is of very great length, and fair strength, and a 

 really good commercial commodity, its value today being 

 about K8 a bazaar maund. The samples unheckled I 

 would value at El per maund less. The samples of 

 combings, generally as tow, could be used in this country 

 for pa^jer-makmg only, its value as such being about KS 

 per maund ; but in Kugland, where spinning machinery 

 can be applied to it, a good yarn might be produced. 

 As a produce for shipment thereto, it is of greater value 

 than being consumed locally for paper-making : for the 

 latter, I am of opinion it is too good and costly, as jute, 

 tow, and such like fabrics, are so cheap and plentiful in this 

 country." 



In preparing the fibre there were sundry difficulties to 

 be overcome; the operators were new to the work, they 

 had never seen fibre prepared from aloe before. The 

 60 



sharp points pricked their hands, the fojtid offensive look 

 ing juice was found to be a painfully powerful rubefac- 

 ient. The mill rollers were iron and not ii'ood. The 

 motive power, instead of a pair of bidlocks, consisted of 

 two' 'Sainis" working at the end of a horizontal lever, 

 and the resistance to be overcome was sometimes con- 

 siderable, which meant that the two Sainis had to ex- 

 ert considerable muscular force. There were considerable 

 prejudices in the eyes of the Aryan brother, and took 

 time to tone down. Also, it was only experience which 

 shewed the proper amount of " retting " in wet sand 

 and the degree and duration of beating required to fin- 

 ally separate the green pulp from the fibres. The rollers 

 of the mill used in these experiments were vertical. A 

 system of horizontal rollers in an iron framing, worked 

 by belting from overhead gearing, would give better re- 

 results ; the shafting to be fitted with a fast aud loose 

 pulley, so as to throw the mill out of gear when not 

 required for work. 



The question of motive power next demands consider- 

 ation. The motive-power available in India is — bullocks, 

 water, steam, and wind. Bullocks would not be economical 

 for many reasons, ^^'ater is not always to be had, except 

 near canals or close under the hills. So that it resolves 

 itself into a matter between steam and wind. Steam means 

 the employment of skilled labour and a plentiful supply 

 of good fuel. In Upper India, coal, any distance from 

 a raihv,ay, is too dear to be thought of ; wood is seldom 

 to be had under four mauuds per rupee, and the only 

 other substance available is grass or straw. In the 

 '* Khandi " or submontane tracts there are thousands of 

 acres of land covered with long grass — Saccharum sara 

 yS. sjiontanennij Andropoyon involution, — which would serve 

 as excellent fuel in any engine fitted up with a large fire 

 box and one of Messrs. Head and Schemidth's patent 

 straw burning apparatus ; 20 lb. to 22 lb. of gross being 

 fully equal, in calorific effect, to 6 lb. of best Welsh or 

 Newcastle coal. One of Messrs. Eausome Sims and Head's* 

 10 H. P. engines, working at a high riite of expansion, 

 and fitted up with the most recent improvements, would 

 in a working day of 8 hom-s consume 8 « 10 « 22^1,760 

 or in round numbers 1.800 lb. of grass fuel. This grass 

 sells for 16 loads of about 30 seers each, for 1 rupee • 

 the daily consumption of grass would not at this rate ex- 

 ceed two rupees per diem. 



With regard to wind power, we have in India a vast nat- : 

 ural agent almost wholly unutilized, as there is seldom a 

 day in which we have not wind enough to propel machinery, ; 

 provideil suitable- gearing and apparatus he forthcoming, a' 

 wind mill having a sail area of 500 square feel, would 

 under a wind veIocity=14-67', or 10 miles per hour, give a 

 useful effect of about 11 H. P. 



By the following Formula, H. P.= — '^ 



where A=Total sail area. 



V=Wind velocity, in feet, per second. 



n. r.="^g" J^^ =14. Allowing 80 percent only for 

 useful effect we have 11-20 H. P. 



Each such wind machine could h oik four mills, each mill 

 consisting of a pair of rollers 3' long, 1, diameter; and the 

 amount of skilled supervision required would be almost nil. 

 One boy or man to oil and lubricate the bearings would be 

 ample. 



With regard to the yield per acre of an aloe plantation, 

 the follow iug were some calculations made : — 



One acre would hold 1,000 plants ; each plant would give 

 1-5 lbs. of fibre. 



1000x1000x1-5 



80 



Supposing acreage of plantation,=l,000.-. 

 8,750 maunds. 



Of this amount 60 per cent would be fibre suitable for yarn, 

 lope, etc., and the remainder, 7,500 maunds, a material 

 fit for tow and paper. 

 Then— 



KoTE. — * It is not overstating the fact by remarking that this emin- 

 i^nt firm seem by general excellence of wcrluntiiiNhii), durability, 

 null economy in actual performance, to have brou;.rlU lluir steam 

 macliinery for flgriouItUTal purposes as near perfection iis possible. 

 They seem to have left most other competitors in this branch of the 

 profession a long way behind. 



