AGAVE 



Cultivation 

 Sylhet 



Association with 

 Tea. 



Assam. 



Propagation by 

 Seed, Suckers, 

 Bulbils. 



Distance Apart. 



Number to the 

 Acre. 



Close Growing 

 Dangerous. 



Polling. 



Planting Season. 



THE SISAL HEMP PLANT 



they are further of opinion, is A. sisalaua, Perrine, a good species 

 and not a form of A. rig Ida, Miller. 



Mann and Hunter have dealt so fully and satisfactorily with its culti- 

 vation as an associated crop with tea that it seems almost undesirable to 

 attempt to set forth as a separate chapter their main conclusions. Persons 

 interested in the subject of Sisal cultivation in India should most certainly 

 procure the pamphlet mentioned. But as experience gained by others 

 differs slightly from that in Sylhet, it may be useful to give a combined 

 review of the practical results hitherto attained in India as a whole. 



CULTIVATION. In Sylhet. It would seem fairly certain that A. 

 si si ilana is an even more tropical form than most of the Agaves and will 

 not live if liable to seasons of frost. It may be propagated (1) by seed, 

 (2) by suckers from the base of the stem, or (3) by "pole plants or 

 bulbils." The last mentioned are produced from the flowering spike or 

 " pole," and are buds formed within the bracts of the individual flower 

 stalks. Suckers are preferred in America, and "pole plants" are largely 

 used (if not preferred) in the Bahamas. From 1,500 to 4,000 are formed 

 on each pole, and they do not fall to the ground until they are six inches 

 or more in length. They root at once, and if left alone form a grass-like 

 vegetation around the perishing parent-plant. Seeds are not so often 

 resorted to, owing to the great delay. Morris seems to doubt the 

 advisability of propagation from bulbils, and Mann and Hunter only 

 recommend that course until such time as a continuous supply of suckers 

 has been established on the estate. [Of. Sly, Agave Fibre in Assam, 

 in Agri. Journ. Ind., 1906, i., pt. iii., 247-9.] 



Nursery and Plantation. The young plants, whichever way obtained, 

 are first raised in a nursery until they attain a height of about 15 to 20 

 inches Mann and Hunter say 8 to 12 inches. Shade-trees in the nursery 

 are injurious. According to the most generally approved plan in America 

 the young plants are transplanted into the estate, in rows 12 feet apart, 

 the individual plants being from 6 to 8 feet apart in the rows. This will 

 give about 650 plants to the acre, but in some estates they are planted 

 much closer, viz. 9 to 10 x 4 to 6 feet, thus giving about 1,000 plants or 

 more to the acre. The danger of close planting lies in the fact that during 

 wind storms, the leaves may stab each other and thus injure the subsequent 

 growth of the leaf and discolour the fibre. Fermentation, set up within 

 the growing leaf or in the leaves after separation from the plant, will ruin 

 the fibre by staining it a red colour. A writer in Capital (March 1901) 

 would seem to think that the Dauracherra Estate in South Sylhet has 

 " made no provision for a permanent crop. The plants have been planted 



8 feet between in the row and 10 feet between the rows. These distances 

 have always been recommended hitherto. When the plants got to be 

 about four years old a young sucker ought to have been planted in between, 

 so that when a plant poles and dies, which they almost invariably do within 

 ten years of planting, the plant placed between would be ready to take the 

 other's place and keep the constant supply of fibre going. But after 

 seeing the Dauracherra plantation the writer is convinced that 8 feet 

 by 10 feet is far too wide apart and would say 4 feet by 6 feet an ample 

 distance." Mann, and Hunter think that 5 feet between the plants and 



9 to 10 feet between the rows are suitable distances for general use. Thus 

 it may be said that overcrowding is condemned in most parts of the world 

 where sisal planting prevails. The best time for planting is from February 



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