8o6 



THE TkOPlCAL AGRICULTURIST, [Jum- i, 1^87* 



" estate. There was far too much money invested 

 " in them for tbem to pay." 



'• On many of the estates self-sown plants abounded 

 " in great numbers. It was from the leaves of these 

 "that the companies made money and paid large 

 " dividends when the price of the iibre was good. 

 " The plants had grown naturally on the land, and 

 " their presence on it had not cost a cent. In such 

 "cases results materially ditfer from these of reaping 

 " the crops of regularly laid out plantations with low 

 " prices for the produce. The soil and climate of the 

 " localities referred to favour the growth of the 

 " plants in such a degree that Httle expense need be 

 " incurred in introducing it to new grounds. The 

 " plant produces plantlets in great abundance in this 

 " colony. These plantlets grow viviparously on the 

 " parent plant, and adhere to it till they have developed 

 " into almost perfectly formed plants. When the 

 " young plantlets drop from their parent they are 

 " perfectly fitted to stand by themselves, Excepting 

 " the want of roots they are perfect. The roots are 

 '' emitted as soon as the plantlets come in contact 

 " with the moist soil, even when they are lying ou the 

 " surface of the ground. It seems, therefore, that to 

 " increase this plant rapidly and cheaply over a given 

 " area, due advantage should be taken of its peculiarities 

 " and ' the facilities which it naturally affords for 

 " propagation and increase." 



At St. Helena Fia-cma (/lyantea has been for some 

 time under cultivation as an introduced plant. Experi- 

 ments on a small scale have been carried on, and 

 samples of fibre have appeared in the English market. 

 fReport on Resourses of the Island of St. Helena, 

 Colonial Office, African No. 275, 1884). 



Messrs. Collyer .^ Co. reported in 1883 on fibre 

 from St. Helena as follows:— 



" Aloe fibre (Tnrcnm gi(/<nitoa) St. Helena. Good 

 "length, full strength, rather dull colour, generally 

 " well cleaned but with some runners untouched and 

 "barky. Value :28^. to 30i. per ton. This sample is 

 " very different in appearance from the Furcrifar/i/jantra 

 " of JMauritius, owing probably to differences of both 

 " growth and treatment." 



While on the subject of fibre from Furmea gujantca 

 it mav not be inappropriate to say a few words as 

 regards the merits of another si>ecies, Fiircra-a adini.ns. 

 This, as already pointed out, is possibly one of the 

 plants under the name of Cajan from which some 

 of the Yucatan fibre is obtained. ,. • ^ 



It differs from /'. qljantto. in that it has no distinct 

 trunk, or a very short one, below the rosette of leaves. 

 The latter are 3 to 5 ft. long, about 5 inches broad 

 at tbe middle, bright green, rigid in texture, and 

 armed with regular, hooked, brown prickles. 



It is a native of tropical America and cultivated in 

 most tropical countries. A variety of this plant— 

 /'. ci'hcms, var. i,iermU-\B figured and described in 

 Bot. Blag., t. 6.543 



In addition to flowers it produces bulbils on the 

 flowering scape, from which the plant is readily 

 increased. The plant is common in Jamaica, and it is 

 said that there " would be no difticulty m establishing 

 there a large area under cultivation. The fibre is 

 white, strong, and bright looking. It yields at the 

 rate of 205 to 315 per cent, by weight of green leaf . 

 From experiments carried ou at Jamaica under a 

 committee appointed by Government it was found that 

 leaves of Vurmm adw^isis- weighing 3(36.^ pounds yielded 

 •^S pounds of green fil>re, which when perfectly dry 

 weiched Ih pounds. This was at the rate of 2-05 per 

 cent, by w"eight of green leaf. In the report of the 

 Committee this plant and its fibre are described as 



follows : — ^ F J. i^ c i. 



"Silk grass (Fi'rn-fl>a cuhensis). Leaves 5 to t) feet 

 " long, generally armed ^^ ith strong prickles, but some- 

 " times unarmed or with few prickles. Common in 

 " Jamaica and might be largely propagated at once 

 «' Value of fibre— («.) 3s/., good quality, but might 

 "be whiter; (h.) fairlv clean, fair colour, value about 

 " 2fHL per ton; (r.) superior to Sisal and worth 27^ 

 " ])er ton. A good fibre, not quite sufficiently white 

 " in the centre." 



The above plants constitute the chief species of 

 Agave and Fiircraa yielding commerical fibres. 



It may be mentioned here that many Agaves yield 

 fibre, but the fibre may, as iu the case of the Jamaica 

 Keratto, prove unsuitable for industrial purposes. The 

 Brokers' Report on Keratto filjre was: — "Little 

 '•strength: not an even (but a curly) fibre: towy : 

 "value ]-2L. to It', per ton." 



Plants yielding true Sisal Hemp might be obtained 

 from Yucatan in large quantities. — D. M. 



speedily convinced 

 export has indeed 

 year's transactions 



The Tea Tiiade of China foe the Ye.^ii 188(). 

 — Mr. E. B. Drew, Statistical Secretary of the 

 Chinese Foreign Customs, makes general remarks 

 on the foreign trade of China for 188(), in the just 

 published "Returns of Trade," for 1880, We quote 

 the paragraph on "Tea": — "The export of Black 

 Tea is the greatest in quantity for at least six 

 years, and a like remark is true as to the estimated 

 value of it. But if we turn to the Reports from 

 Hankow, Kiukiang, Shanghai, and Foochow, we are 

 that while the quantity of the 

 been great, the result of the 

 has been extremely disastrous 

 to the Chinese teabrokers and to the Foreigners 

 whose capital has been engaged in them. F'rora 

 this statement the business done for Russia, which 

 has much increased, .should probably be excepted. 

 It is enough to say here that probably the growers 

 of Tea and the ocean carriers are the only ones 

 who have been benefited by the exceptionally large 

 operations of the year, — unless we include also 

 the Government, which gets a revenue proportional 

 to the amount of the export." 



The CuBEi! or "Wild Pei'peh, — Our Galle cor- 

 respondent writes: — '• I read with considerable interest 

 the contribution in your impression of the Kith 

 instant, from your I;oudon correspondent dealimr 

 with the subject of the cubeb vine as a product 

 suitable for cultivation in the low districts of tlie 

 island. It may perhaps be within your recollection 

 that I wrote ou this subject about eight or ten 

 months ago, mentioning that the vine, acknowledged 

 to be that of the cubeb, and identical in its growth 

 and produce with the cubeb of the druggist as des- 

 cribed by your correspondent, grew in profusion in 

 its wild state in the jungles here, especially about 

 Baddegama, and that the berry, which has an aro- 

 matic smell, and is exceedingly acrid to the taste, at- 

 tracted the attention of more than one European 

 visitor, from whom the Mudaliyar of the district 

 gathered the fact that it possessed some marketable 

 value. But beyond small parcels being collected and 

 taken away no inducement appears to have offered 

 for growing it systematicallJ^ Now, however, that 

 your London correspondent has fully demonstrated 

 the worth of a product which m.iy be very profitably 

 cultivated with the possession of the necessary con- 

 ditions of both soil and climate favorable to its 

 healthy growth, strong encouragement is afforded for 

 the development of the industrj', as a gentleman to 

 whom I showed the article in question has fully made 

 up his mind to embark in the enttrprize in a tent- 

 ative way. But the important ([uestion which reijuires 

 to be .settled is whether the kind of cubeb found in 

 its wild state in the jungles of the low country really 

 belongs to the acknowledged genuine variety said to 

 be grown in Central and "Western Java, although the 

 product in several particulars corresponds exactly with 

 the description given by your London correspondent 

 — viz., the vine attains a height of from IS to 2n 

 feet, climbing round large trees, it is readily propagated 

 by cuttings, and is so grown by natives, who utilize it 

 for medicinal purposes: and the berry is likewise small 

 and dark-colored when dried. Whether this is really 

 the genuine article for which a demand exists is worth 

 knowing. I trust tbe subject will recieve atteutiou at 

 the bauds of some of your readers interested in low- 

 country products and lead to satisfactory practical 

 results. "^Local " Times. " 



