224 CULTIVATION OF SISAL IN THE BAHAMAS 



now on the market. The subject is being investigated by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and a report may be looked for in the near future. 

 It may be said in conclusion that, as a crop, sisal has much to rec- 

 ommend it. It grows best on barren, rocky land that is useless for 

 other agricultural purposes. Drought affects it but little, if at all, as 

 the writer can testify from his own observation. The yield is not con- 

 fined to any one season, but is continual; hence the employment of 

 labor is constant, and the planter can estimate closely what the yield 

 will be for a given time. The old plants are easily replaced by the 

 suckers that have been previously cut off and kept for this purpose. 

 These advantages are shared by all the cultivators of sisal; but, in 

 addition, the planter in Florida will have at his door a market that now 

 absorbs eight-four per cent of all the fiber produced. He will not only 

 bring into use land now almost worthless, but will probably make for 

 himself a fortune and introduce a new industry into the United States. 



