i68 



CORDAGE FIBRES 



tedious that, even with the cheap labour of that time, 

 the cost of production was discouraging. The State 

 Government, recognising the need for a suitable 

 machine to extract the fibre, offered a prize to the 

 inventor of an apparatus capable of producing a 

 certain quantity per hour. This offer resulted in the 

 invention of the " raspador " machine (seepage 175) 

 by a Franciscan friar and led to a gradual expansion 

 of the industry. The following figures illustrate the 

 development since 1880. In that year the exports 

 of " henequen " (as the product is termed in Mexico) 

 amounted to about 18,820 tons ; in 1885, 44,580 tons ; 

 in 1890, 46,680 tons ; in 1895, 63,900 tons ; in 1900, 

 83,270 tons ; in 1905, 99,500 tons. Since 1905, the 

 annual export has been, on the average, rather over 

 100,000 tons per annum. The value of the fibre 

 exported from Mexico in the year 1913 amounted to 

 over 3,000,000. A large proportion of the fibre 

 (over 90 per cent.) is exported to the United >tates, 

 where it is employed for the manufacture of binder 

 twine used in harvesting the immense crops of the 

 Western States. The rest of the exports are con- 

 signed to European countries. 



Imports of Sisal Hemp into the United States 



* Probably mostly or entirely derived from German East Africa. 

 { Almost entirely from the Bahamas. 



