Vol. XIV. No. 335. 



THK AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



SISAL HEMP INDUSTRY IN BRITISH RESULT OF EXPERIMENTS IN KILN-DRY- 

 EAST AFRICA. 



In the last issue of the Agt Wei s, reference was 



made in the review of the Anna on the Department 



ING CORN AT ANTIGUA. 



,.t Agriculture, British East \fm i, 1912 13, ti 

 information in connexion with the method and cosl oi 

 producing sisal bemp in British East Vfrica. The following 

 gives a detailed account ol this, particularly in relation to 

 the preparation "I the fibre for market 



The capital required for planting 1 ,000 acres is appro 

 match £3,000. The cost of m for thi 



manufacture of the fibre is £4,500. The return expected 

 is 1 ton per acre for three years ■ ..i first cutting. The 



earliesl time when a return maj pected is after four 



years from planting. The co on is about £10 



per ton from the time the fibre leaves the plantation (includ 

 ing the cutting) to placing it on tin- London market, allowing 

 !_• I per ton for transport for the railway. 



The following information refers to the Sisal Factor} at 

 Punda Milia: 



'The power of working the factory is supplied by a suction 

 gas engine, N". 3, 120 of 75 h.p., and was obtained of "The 

 CundaU Gas and Oil Engine Company'', Keighley, Enj 

 ff running for about ten hours tin- • ae consumes about 



one third of a t f charcoal, which i- made on the property 



from Acacia and other 1 1 



'Decorticating Machine. — This is a "New Corona" by 

 Krupp, and when fully working cleans ibout 100,000 leaves 

 per hour, the output of fibre during a spell of eight hours 

 being about 2 tons. 



'Washing, [mmediately after decortication the fibre is 



d in water contained in concrete tanks adjoining the 



factory, and is then bung out on wires in the open elose by, 



where, on bright days, it quickly dries, and is bleached as 



white as can be desired. 



'Beating and Cleaning Process. Various methods for 

 . i g the dried fibre of pithy matter, 'lust, etc., have been 

 tried at Punda Milia, l>ut the best of all, and that now 

 adopted, is a simple apparatus evolved, designed and fitted 

 up by Mr. Rutherford, who, from the outset, has been 

 associated with the Honourable Mr. T. I!. Swift in 

 establishing and developing the sisal estate under review. 

 •The apparatus referred to consists of two lengths of ordinary 

 3-inch piping, each firmly secured at either end to 

 a central shaft, which revolves at a rapid rate, so that tile 

 fibre held in the hands of men. properly protected by 

 -a wooden screen, is beaten SO briskly by the pipes that 

 practically all impurities are removed; after one end of the 

 fibre has been beaten it is reversed, and the other end 

 similar]} treated. 



'Baling. After being weighed, the thoroughly dried 



fibre is then placed in a "patent liijoli I'ress" by Shirtliff 



Bros., Hampton Mill, Middlesex, England. The bales weigh 



2 cut. each, and are found a convenient weight and size 

 for handling, and the trade mark on the baling cloth is 



a /ebra or Punda Milia. from which the native nan f the 



it ion is derived. 



'About 1,000 acres are now established in sisal at Pun 1 1 

 Milia. half of which area i- maturing for cutting, whilst 

 a further considerable acreage will be planted with Agave 

 sisalant as fast as circumstances permit. 



'Tram lines have been laid down in the older section ol 



the plantation for the purpose of transporting the sisal leat - 

 to the factory, but owing to the delay in delivering the 

 trolleys oi waggons ordered from England, the transport is n 

 present mostlj done by ox carts.' 



Notice was given in the last issue of the Agricul- 

 tural News of the arrangemen ntlj made by 

 the Government in regard to the commercial drying 

 and storage of Indian corn in Lntigua. The following 

 is a pan of Dr. H. V. Tempany's report of the experi 

 incuts, the results of which were considered so 

 favourably 03 the Government: 



• In accordam given 03 His Excellency 



the Governor, experimen 'mi carried out to 



the effect of kiln-drying localty grown cum. 



On October 23, 1914, the following samples of corn 

 used for the purpo 



1 . A 2-bushel baj I [3 kiln dried loi all 

 maize. 



2. A 2-bushel bag of maize imported from New i'oi 



3. A 2-bushel bag ol locally grown imilar I . 

 1 , bul which had not been kiln dried. 



A. A bag of locally grown maize, similar to 1, but on 

 cob. 



The bags were put up in cl ised receptacles. 

 The conditions found, when the various experiments 

 were opened (January L8), are summarized below. 



\o. I. Locally grown kiln-dried maize. Quite cool and 

 sweet; no signs of mould, no evidences of weevil attack, but, 



a small amount of grain moth 



No. 2. Imported maize purchased from Benetl Bryson 

 Badly sweated ami hot; quite a con iderable growth of mi 

 and heavily infested with weevils; no grain moth 



No. 3. Locally grown maize which had not been kiln 

 dried. Somewhat sweated and hot; some growth of moulds; 

 very heavily infested with weevil and grain moth. 



No. 4. Corn on the cob. Cool and not moulded to any 

 appreciable extent, but very heavily infested with grain moth 

 and weevil. 



The results of this experiment arc interesting and 

 instructive, the point being that any insect or fungoid trouble 



which arose, must have been due to conditions in tin in a; 



the inception of the experiment, and could not be due to 

 infection from outside sources. 



One may say that the results obtained can be regarded 

 as definitely conclusive, and show quite clearly that if due 

 regard is paid to conditions of storage, locally grown kiln- 

 dried grain can be kept, in good condition, ami moderately 

 free from insect attacks for considerable periods. 



Deterioration of Lime Juice. Raw lime juice 

 when exposed to the air in open its slowly deteriorates, 



principally by reason of the growth ..I mould on the surface, 



which splits up some..! the citric acid into carbon dioxide 

 ami water. No toxic substance is produced, and tic fungus 

 i- strictlj aerobic, that is, it cannot develop in air tight casks. 

 If the essential ,,il. which is b\ nature a preservative, be 



■ 1 from raw lime juice, the deterioration is much 



quicker. As much as 15 per cent, of acidity nu\ be lost in 



two months under these c litions. It i- never advisable to 



.old chemical preservatives like salicylic acid <•! potassium 

 bisulpl te I 1 rav limi juice. 



