166 CORDAGE FIBRES 



under the name of " Ndehe Ukom " was white, very 

 lustrous, of fair but uneven strength, but only about 

 2 feet long. 



A specimen of well cleaned plantain fibre, which 

 was brownish-white and of good lustre, was for- 

 warded from the Gold Coast in 1907. The product 

 was of fair but very irregular strength and about 

 4 feet long. It was superior to other specimens of 

 plantain fibre which had been examined at the Imperial 

 Institute, and was regarded by commercial experts 

 as worth 40 per ton (with " good " Manila hemp at 

 38 to 42 per ton). A sample of banana fibre, 

 which was forwarded at the same time, consisted of 

 well cleaned, brownish-white fibre, of good lustre, but 

 uneven diameter and very irregular strength. The 

 product was about 4 feet long, and very similar to 

 the preceding sample. It was valued at 36 per ton 

 (with " fair " Manila hemp at 35 to 36 per ton). 



SISAL HEMP 



Sisal hemp, so-called from the name of a port in 

 Yucatan, Mexico, whence it was first exported, is a 

 valuable cordage fibre, derived from the leaves of 

 Agave sisalana and certain other species of Agave. 

 These plants are members of the natural order 

 Amaryllidaceae ; they are commonly, but erroneously, 

 spoken of as " aloes " and must not be confounded 

 with the true aloe which is of widely different char- 

 acter. The Sisal plant has a short trunk bearing a 

 number of thick, fleshy leaves, which range from three 

 to six feet in length and from about four to six inches 

 in width. At a certain age, which varies in different 

 countries and seems to depend largely on the climatic 

 conditions, it throws up a " pole " or flowering stem 

 twenty to thirty feet high . The flowers are produced in 

 dense clusters at the ends of short lateral branches, and 

 after they have begun to wither buds arise in the axils 

 of the flower-stalks. From these buds arise small 

 plants, known as " bulbils, " which grow to the length 

 of a few inches, and then fall to the ground and, under 

 suitable conditions, take root. After the production 

 of the bulbils, the whole plant withers and dies. 



