IMUAN PLANTATI 

 But as already shown, the plant cultivated on that estate is chiefly 



AGAVE 



Cultivation 

 Bombay 



Number of 

 Leaves. 



Manu- 

 facture. 



Method of 

 Cutting. 



A. Day's Work. 

 Length and 

 Weight of Leaf. 



While these brief references denote what might be called the more 

 important centres of the new Indian Sisal hemp enterprise, particulars of 

 small experimental plots are to hand from every province of India and 

 Murma. The reader should consult Pram's Report for additional par- 

 ti. -ulars (Agri. Ledg., 1900, No. 6). 



Yield of Fibre. Of Yucatan it is said that from 1,000 to 1,500 Ib. per acre of 

 cleaned fibre are obtained and that 50 to 70 Ib. are derived from 1,000 leaves 

 i if plant. This would come to an average of about 30 leaves yielded by 

 each plant, in order to give the amount of clean fibre stated ; but most reports 

 place the produce at a much lower figure, namely from 10 to 20 leaves a year 

 fur each plant. We read that in Lucknow, grown on a poor soil, the plants are 

 said to have had 30 leaves ; 50 in Saharanpur, Cachar, Tirhut ; 60-70 in Port 

 Blair ; 72 in Assam ; and 80 in Poona. Doubtless these numbers have refer- 

 ence to the total leaves on each plant, not to the number of mature leaves annu- 

 ally available for fibre extraction. 



Harvest and ,Flbre Extraction. The leaves are cut off from the stem from 

 below upwards by means of a heavy-bladed long knife, and the spine on the apex 

 is also severed by a blow of the same before the leaves are thrown on the ground. 

 In America and the West Indies the operators are paid as a rule by contract, 

 but a day's labour would be regarded as from 2,000 to 2,500 leaves. According 

 to Indian experience the leaves are approximately 4 feet 6 inches long and 

 5 inches wide with a weight of 2 Ib. Some are recorded as only 2 feet long by 

 :5 inches and weight 5 ounces ; others 6 feet 6 inches long by 5 inches wide and 

 2J Ib. in weight. The Sylhet experience would be about the mean of the figures 

 given. " True Sisal hemp, grown on suitable and not too rich land, should yield 

 for instance, 3 per cent, of fibre (and often much more) on the weight of leaf : 

 careful tests of the large blue Aloe in India have given 2 per cent, only of fibre. 

 * ! f/</m/-n (Mauritius hemp) gives a still less yield on the weight of 

 leaf, the amount being in Sylhet from If to 2 per cent., but in this case the differ- 

 ence is more than counterbalanced by the larger weight of leaf obtained per 

 acre." 



Machinery. The most generally used fibre -cleaning machine in Yucatan Machinery. 

 is called the " Raspador," although others are employed, such as the " Sou's," 

 " Preito," " Torruella " [cf. photograph in Mann and Hunter, I.e. 24, pi. vii.] 

 and " Villamore." The "Raspador " [cf. Mann and Hunter, I.e. 21, fig. 2] con- 

 sists of a drum with brass knives fastened across the face. It is so geared as to 

 revolve about 110 times a minute. The leaf is held by a clamp and crushed as 

 it moves forward, while the pulp is scraped off by the knives as they dash across 

 it. When little more than one-half the leaf has been reduced to pulp it is with- 

 drawn and reverses so that the other half may be similarly cleaned. The fibre 

 is then dried in the sun and baled for export. Though crude in construction the 

 " Raspador " has the advantages of cheapness and simplicity. It is typical 

 of most of the modern machines that have been brought out, each with special 

 claims to superiority over the others. With *'n-ore giganiea the "Gratte" 

 machine is in a position of supreme favour. But in addition to the machines 

 already mentioned, the following may be said to have been specially designed 

 to deal with the aloe fibres : the " Death," the " Barraclough," the " Van 

 Buren," the " T. Abee Smith," and the " Weicher " machines. Then there is 

 the " Silburn " machine of which so much has been said in the Indian Press 

 recently, and lastly the " Suter " machine, which makes 500 revolutions a minute. 



Properties and Uses of Sisal and Aloe Fibres. I have not thought 

 it necessary or desirable to devote space to the discussion of these 

 subjects. Briefly the fibres are used for ropes and cordage ; for 

 carpets, mats and matting ; for brush-making ; and the waste for paper- 

 making. To a limited extent the shorter and finer fibres are carded, 

 spun and woven. [Cf. Royle, Fibrous PI., 1855, 41-50 ; Agri. Ledg., 

 1896, No. 34 ; Dodge, Useful Fibre PL of the World, 1897 ; Stuhlmann, 

 in Der Pflanzer, 1907, Nos. 15, 16, 229-43 ; Hanausek, Micro. Tech. Prod. 

 (Winton and Barber, transl.), 1907, 96-8.] 



43 



Gratte " 



Various 



Machines. 



Industrial 

 Applications. 



