SISAL 1 1 KM I' 



AGAVE 



Cultivation 

 Bombay 

 (hut tin' quality of the liltn- mi^'hl lo improved by cultivation and that it was 



ja i. iH<iinnn might be introduced on a large scale on the waste lands 

 I I'.oinbay. addod, "The value of the machine-cleaned film- nmges, according Valuation*. 



_rih. from i-J.") to 30 per ton. The ordinary Bombay aloe fibre, cleaned 

 l.y h.in.l. is worth only from 5 to 12 per ton. These figureH fully bear out the 

 "[union offered in my letter of February 21, 1887, that tho Hombay aloe fibre 

 industry was capable of being greatly improved." Tho sub pi.-nt history will 

 I MI found in the Kew Bulletin, (add. ser., h., 1898, 194-200). 



Plantations of Bombay The Englishman (June 10, 1899) gave a long 

 and most instructive description of Dr. E. Suter's endeavours to establish 

 MK t i-ssfully the plantation owned by the Fibre Company of Powai. Another 

 equally admirable account of the Powai plantation and factory will be 

 found in The Textile Journal (Jan. 1901). We learn that Dr. Suter 

 has obtained a 30 years' lease of 3,000 acres of land, on a rent of Rs. 14 

 an acre, and that he is in treaty for a further tract of land of some 20,000 

 acres. He employs about 500 workmen for the greater part of the 

 year. The plantation consists mainly of A. Ciuitiila, but he has put 

 out a large number of A. II if//ifii, also of A. si*<if(in<i and 



There are apparently two operations pursued in separating the fibre Method of 

 at his factory, during each of which a liberal supply of water is utilised. c 

 The sharp, thin extremity of each leaf is first dealt with, and when the fibre 

 has been freed from the pulp, etc., it is washed before the lower half of the 

 leaf is treated. The fibre of the apex of one leaf (or of several leaves 

 treated at one and the same time) are then twisted round a small brass 

 handle, by which means the operator is enabled to submit the lower and 

 thicker ends of the leaves to be scraped without any risk of injury to 

 himself. The fibre having been washed in the plentiful supply of water 

 procured by the factory from the Powai lake, is then sun-dried. By the 

 next process it is scutched or combed and thus turned into beautiful white 

 threads which are assorted according to length into two qualities. Finally 

 it is baled and is thus ready for the market. The men employed in the 

 factory are dressed in woollen garments and gloves (supplied by the 

 owners) in order to protect them against the acrid juice that would other- Acrid Juice, 

 wise cause painful blisters on the skin. But Suter has also patented and 

 is daily using a semi-automatic machine of which full particulars and 

 photographic illustrations will be found in Mann and Hunter's pamphlet 

 on Sisal-Hemp Culture in India, published by the Indian Tea Association, 

 1904 (22, pi. vi.). The fibre from Dr. Suter's plantation is said to 

 fetch 36 a ton. 



//. SISAL HEMP. 



It was customary until quite recently to read of the Sisal hemp being 

 botanically a form of the species known as A. rif/i<l<i. Miller, and 

 of there being two industrial forms of the species, viz. (1) var. loii</ifo/ia, 

 the Henequen Hemp of Yucatan, the Sacqui or Sacci (a name denoting 

 light colour) ; this has the leaves spinose on the margin ; (2) 

 var. sitmlunit, the Sisal and Bahma Hemp, the Yashqui or 

 Yaxqui (dark green) ; this has the margins of the leaves almost destitute 

 of spines, but the apex ends in a conspicuous black spine. Mann and 

 Hunter tell us that plants of the former introduced direct from Yucatan 

 have not been very luxuriant in Sylhet, while the latter succeeds splendidly 

 (I.e. 5). Drummond and Prain (I.e. 135) are of opinion that " there is one 

 Sisal Hemp in this country and one only," and they add, " Leaves with 

 and without prickles may be found on the same individual." That plant, 



39 * 



Sisal 

 Hemp. 



TWO Forms. 



