110 MOZAMBIQUE 



worked at Inhambane with very good results as 

 far as quality goes. A report from the same 

 source on a sample from the red sandy soils 

 stated : "In to-day's bad light we cannot be 

 sure if the colour is as white as what we should 

 call superfine, but the length, cleaning, and 

 strength are in every way quite satisfactory." 



Fourcroya produces leaves of uneven length. 

 A 4-foot leaf will often be followed by one 

 twice the length, requiring very much more 

 resistance to prevent it from being drawn bodily 

 through by the rapidly revolving decorticators. 

 A feeder cannot, therefore, time himself to exert 

 a pull of constant force and proceed with his 

 feeding automatically as in the case of sisal, 

 where the leaves are generally of a uniform 

 length. The consequence is that on receiving a 

 big leaf, and being afraid of losing his hold, he 

 is apt to thrust it only one-third of the way 

 into the drum before reversing it. The result 

 is that he recovers eventually a length of only 

 about 2 feet of fibre. An examination of the 

 pulp under these conditions discloses the fact 

 that quite a large percentage of the fibre is 

 being lost. Considerable relief is afforded the 

 feeders if these large leaves are split into two 

 or three pieces, according to the thickness, 

 beforehand. 



