58 Fibres of tJic Ha^vaiian Islands. 



stalks will be harvested and the decortication publicly condu(5led 

 next Jul}'. An agency for these Islands has been established. 

 The machine costs locally in France about $1200. 



The adaptabilty of ramie to Hawaii has long since been proved, 

 and with a satisfadtor}- machine available the industry should soon 

 establish itself here. It is confidently expecfted by many authori- 

 ties that at no distant date this fibre will be the most important in 

 the market. 



SISAI,. 



Endogen. Structural Fibre. Amaryllidaccce. Agave rigida 



sisalana. 



The Sisal belongs to a very large group of endogens familiarly 

 known as Agaves. Its valued fibre is in consequence strudlural 

 and is found permeating the fleshy leaves. The well known Cen- 

 tury plant is another species of this genus. The Agaves are chiefly 

 found in Central America, and their use was well known to the 

 Aztecs who manufa(5f;ured from the Agave mc.xicana a paper said 

 to resemble the papyrus of the Egyptians. The sisal fibre of com- 

 merce is produced by the Agave rigida sisalajia, a plant which has 

 been popularly confounded with many others, particularh* with 

 Agave decipicns, whose chief claim to recognition is the persistence 

 with which it has been mistaken in Florida and the Bahamas for 

 the true sisal. This is remarkable, as many well defined charadler- 

 istics separate the two species, of which ma}- be mentioned the well 

 developed footstalk of the false plant, and the sharp serrations of 

 its leaf edges which render it difEcult to approach. The leaves of 

 the true plant are deficient of these spines except a very acute and 

 obtrusive spur at the extremity, capable of inflicting a painful 

 wound, which is removed to facilitate handling at the time of har- 

 vesting. The very young plants of the true sisal, however, show 

 a well defined serration which entirely disappears as the plant 

 matures, and which may suggest an interesting inquiry as to the 

 evolution of the species. In this respect it is of interest to remark 

 that the false sisal is found in the most inaccessible districts, 

 whereas the true plant is not met with far from human habitation. 



Sisal hemp cultivation was introduced to Florida from Yucatan 

 in 1834, and subsequently to the Bahamas where considerable 

 areas of otherwise unprodudlive land have been brought into culti- 

 vation and a lucrative commerce has been built up. The Bahaman 



