802 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1887. 



tobacco, generally bought at the Amsterdam market, 

 costs the producer f.U.SO. lo f.0.90, which amount on 

 a produce of only 4 to 5 piculs per field certainly far 

 exceeds f.l. 



In conclusion, we refer to the United Statis Tobacco 

 Joi'rnal's assertion that Americans are not accjuainted 

 with the fact that foreigners also are permitted to 

 acquire land in Sumatra. If we have to consider this 

 as the opinion of tobacco-men, we think it rather 

 naive for smart men like the Americans, which proves 

 at the same time that the information of American 

 Consular officers is not always reliable. However, 

 American people ought to know as well as we do 

 that not every part of the east coast of Sumatra 

 yields results like these on which the tirst-comers 

 could pride themselves, and that, as Mr. G. Harkemi 

 observes in Oe Iiulischc Mercv.uroi i'AU. 1, the results 

 have often proved to be very deplorable. 



On this subject Mr. J. F. Cremer, member of the 

 Second Chamber of the States-General, late Chief 

 ISJauager of the Deli Company, states;— We can in- 

 deed reckon, on an average, on fifteen leaves per plant, 

 •but not that of such haves as that every hundred 

 make a pound; such is, indeed, the case with the 

 best leaves of Sumatra tobacco, but not with an 

 average number of leaves of the crop. For the lower 

 leaves of a plant, especially when gathered in a rainy 

 season, contain a good deal of broken and spotted or 

 decayed leaf that weighs much less. On an average 

 •we may reckon that 1,800 plants furnish 1 picul, or 

 125 Amsterdam pounds. For this from $2 to §8 per 

 1,000 plants is paid ; but as §2 to $4 is the exception 

 the real average is S6 per 1,000 plants, or SIOSO, 

 so folly S and not 5 J cents per pound. The freight 

 per Ge'rman Lloyd is f.55 per last of SCO K.G., or 

 10 bales; so not Sl'^I, per bale, but, reckoning the 

 dollar at f.2-50, S2-20. Therefore if these data of the 

 Consul are incorrect, the great fault of his com- 

 putation is this, that he calculates the percentage of 

 the capital recjuired for the outlay of a concern at fj 

 percent, per year, to pay the costs of European and 

 Chinese supervision, of drying-sheds which require 

 complete renewing every two years, of houses for 

 medical attendance, of losses (ab.scouding or deaths of 

 labourers), of jungle clearing and making of roads 

 and drains, of horses and carts, and the necesniry 

 drivers, of Java and Kling auxiliary workiuen for the 

 sorting and packing of the tobacco, with other needed 

 arrangements. The Deli Company yields crops from 

 3| to 4 million pounds. The produce was lately fully 

 f.l. 60 per Amsterdam pound. If this cost 7^ dollar 

 cents, or f. 0.1875 at Amsterdam (plus 10 per cent, for 

 tandil wages), then the gain per pound wouhl be 

 f.1.4,125 or "li to 5h million guilders. The dividends 

 would then be fully 250 per cent. If the Germans 

 and Americans are to set about colonising on such 

 data as supplied by the Consul at Singapore, they will 

 meet with sad disappointments. 



" I can further inform you," continues Mr. Cremer 

 "that from a statement of eleven nominally working 

 concerns in Deli and Langkat in 1886 I perceive that 

 they required on an average 2,000 plants per picul, 

 ■which cost on an average SO.IO per 1,000, without the 

 wages of the tandil or Chinese superintendent; with 

 these wages the picul yielded about S13.45, or per 

 half kilogram 10^ dollar cents. In 1886, on account 

 of copious rain, tlie crop was rather light; in more 

 favourable years the above calculation will hold." We 

 may add that we were officially informed by the 

 manager of the Deli Company that in the preceding 

 year the product of one of their estates realised f.l. 60 

 per pound on the Amsterdam market, while the costs 

 of production had amounted to f.2.25 per ponnd ; a 

 loss, therefore, of f.0.(!5 per pound. And yet the sale 

 of that product had been effected under very I'avour- 

 ablel circumstances. An additional proof that not all con- 

 cerns in Sumatra are remunerative. To conclude, we 

 wonder at the startling fact that the Americans, whose 

 Government is c(jnstantly supplied with the best and 

 most reliable reports on everything concerning to- 

 bacco culture in Deli from their own Consul in Hol- 

 land, Mr. Eckstein, should have allowed themselves 

 to be led astray by the report of the Geruiau Con- 



sul at Singapore. In one of the reports of Mr 

 Eckstein we read, among other things, that the costs 

 of production on a kilo, of Deli toliacco on the 

 Dutch market can be regarded as 70c. or 80c. 

 kilogram. — London and China Express. 



per 



1. 



11. 



111. 



IV. 



EOYAL GARDENS, KEW. 



Bull din of ]\[isce/hfveoi'.<: Jufonantion — Fibre riant.-:. — 

 It is proposed in the following notes to deal briefly 

 with fibres derived from tropical endogenous or 

 monocotj ledonous plants which yield what arc known 

 in commerce as Sisal Hemp, IManila Hemp, ]iow- 

 string Hemp, and Mauritius Hemp. These are used 

 chiefly for rope making and cordage, and are to be 

 distinguished from flax, cotton, and other fibres used 

 purely for textile purposes. 



The large and increasing interests taken in fibre 

 plants and the numerous references made to this 

 establishment on the subject render it very desirable 

 to place within reach of cultivators in India and the 

 Colonies a summary of information on the subject. 

 The Hemps above enumerated are derived as fol- 

 lows : — 



Sisal Hemp, 

 Agave rigida. Mux. 

 (A. ixtli, Karif. 

 A. elongata, .Tacobi. ' 



A. Sisalana, Ferrine.) 

 Mauritius Hemp, 

 Imrcrcfa (jiijantea, Vent. 

 Manila Hemp, 

 3fi'sa tcvtilia, Nees.* 

 Bowstring Hemp, 

 Sansevieriu .-.t-t/lanira AViixn.* 

 The fibres of endogenous plants, the chief of which 

 are enumerated above, are generally white if cleaned 

 without fermentation, but are easily discoloured and 

 also weakened by the decomposition of the mucilagi- 

 nous and saccharine matter associated with them. 

 Hence it is important that they should be cleaned 

 either by mechanical or chemical processes as soou as 

 possible after they are harvested. The resulting fibre 

 if of good ([uality, is while, bright, and glossy, and the 

 individual filaments are straight and free. 



Although grouped together here for convenience 

 of treatment, the plants yielding these hemps require 

 severally very dilferent treatment under cultivation, 

 and it is important to bear in mind that they will prove 

 objects for remunerative culture only under certain 

 special circumstances. 



For instance, the Agave plants yielding Si.sal Hemp 

 fluurish ill the dry di.--tricts of Yucatan, they require 

 little cultural attention, and the fibre is cleaned by 

 means of cheap native hhour, which is probably 

 attainable in few British C'olonies. 



Manila Hemp is produced entirely in the Phillippine 

 Islands from a species of wild banana or plantain 

 (jrnso. tt.rtiiis). It requires rich moist forest land, 

 and while in its native country it is found to be 

 easily cultivated ; it lias been only moderately success- 

 ful under cultivation elsewhere. Here again the in- 

 dustry is supported by an abundant and cheap labour 

 supply, which enables the fibre to be cleaned by hand 

 at a cheap rate. 



Bowstring Hemp is scarcely an article of commerce 

 at present, although locally it is used for many par- 

 poses, as in Ceylon, India, and the East and AVest 

 Coasts of Africa, where species of Sansevieria are 

 found. 



Mauritius Hemp is obtained from Furcrira </ifjantoa, 

 known in the island as Jioi'.t vert, but elsewhere as 

 the green or f.utid aloe. It is a large unarmed 

 species, native of tropical America, but found in both 

 the East and AVest Indies and also at St. Helena. 

 At Alauritius it has established it.self spontaneously on 

 abandoned sugar estates. It is easy of cultivation, 

 and partakes much of the character and habit of the 

 plants yielding Sisal Hemp. IMachinery has been 

 used for preparing Mauritius Hemp, and while good 

 prices ruled th e industry was fairly remunera tive.^ ^ 



* These will be discussed iu Bulletin No. 4 for April. 



