376 AfiricuUural Gazette of N.S. IF. [:\loy 2, 3908. 



G;5,073 



Sisal Hemp Fibre. 



One iilaiit producLMl sixty-six leaves. 



Weiglit when trreeu, 110 IIp: yield, t lli. 



filire. Growiiat Wollouf^barExiieriineut 



Fuim, Richmond River. 



Australian Imports. 



As an iiidicalioii of tlic \ aluc of tlie Philip- 

 jiiiie Islands trade with ..Vustralia in the 

 matter of flax and li(in]i, the followintf figures 

 are instructive. Thi' imjiortatidii t'lom tlie 

 Philippine Islands in — 



cwt. £ 



l'.)(i:'. amounted to I'l/tSO. \ahie 1!),(J91 

 1901 „' i.j,:").")? „ 32,01G 



1905 „ 26,077 „ 57,092 



190{i „ 27,329 , 



Tlic hoa\'iest impoitat ions to Austrah'a are 

 from New Zealand and the Philippine Islands. 

 The material from New Zealand for the most 

 part beiny' the Hax fibre manufactur(>d fi-om 

 the New Zealand fiax plant I'lmnn'i mn liiia.f. 

 Tlie material from the Philippine Islands 

 bi iny the fibre obtained from the Aloe and 

 from a lianatia like })lant, the JIasa tcxtilis. 



There ;ire certainly somewhat di\ei'u-ent 

 o])inions expressed by different autliorities on 

 the question of rich, medium, or poor soils 

 being most suitabU^ for the cultivation of the 

 Sisal hemp plant. It may, however, be ac- 

 cepted as a fact that the Sisal hemp ]ilaiit 

 and other varieties of Agave will grow in 

 places where the cultivation of ordinary agri- 

 cultin'al ci'ops would not be followefl, whether 

 owins; to the stonv nature of the country or 

 its othei- misuitable characteristics. 



]\Ir. Cameron, Superintendent of (lov(>rn- 



nient Gai'dens, Bangalore, in a report made 



by him said : - 



The advantage of tlie cultivation may be hrietly 

 stated as follo\\s : — 



1. Land of a gravelly and stony nature is suitable. 



2. When land is ])lanted up, the cultivation 



practically ceases for a period of four years, 



or until the matured leaves are ready for 



cutting, 

 .'i On suitable land, faiiurc of crop has never 



been beard of. 

 4. The protit on an acre of land yielding crop is 



estimated at ,t'4 to £'^ per annum : that is, 



60 to 75 rupees. 



The large succulent growth obtained in ricli land 

 is inimical both to the (quantity and quality of tibre 

 produced ; therefore somewhat poor land of a loose 

 stony nature is always preferreil as, in aihlition to 

 giving better results generallv, it acconnnodates a 



