SISAL HEMP 171 



have reached maturity on many of the planta- 

 tions and the extraction of the fibre has been com- 

 menced. On a plantation of about 1,000 acres at 

 Punda Milia in the Fort Hall District, a factory has 

 been erected which is provided with machinery for 

 extracting and baling the fibre. Excellent results 

 have been obtained and consignments placed on the 

 market have been reported to be of high grade, and 

 have realised maximum prices. Machinery has also 

 been installed at Nyali on the mainland, opposite the 

 island of Mombasa, and at other places in the Pro- 

 tectorate. The industry has gradually extended, and 

 in 1913 about 7,000 acres were under cultivation. 

 Sisal plants grown at the coast yield a higher per- 

 centage of fibre than those grown in the highlands 

 and also furnish a finer fibre, but in the highlands a 

 larger yield per acre is obtained and the cost of labour 

 is less. The prospects of the industry appear very 

 promising both at the coast and in the highlands. 



The exports of Sisal hemp from British East Africa 

 in the year 1913-14 were as follows: 



To Quantity. 



Cwts. 



United Kingdom . 16,573 

 Germany . . . 8 1 1 

 United States . . 4,083 



Total . . 21,467 12,525 



In 1914-15, the total exports amounted to 33,621 

 cwts. of value 36,059. 



The cultivation of Sisal hemp has been undertaken 

 recently in the Nyasaland Protectorate, and, in 1914, 

 about 400 acres in the Blantyre district were devoted 

 to this crop. The cultivation of experimental plots 

 at various altitudes in Nyasaland has shown that the 

 higher localities are too cold and that the most satis- 

 factory results are obtained below 2,500 feet. 



Efforts are being made to establish a Sisal hemp in- 

 dustry in Papua, and in 1914 the area under cultivation 

 amounted to 3,110 acres. During the year 1913-14, 

 142 tons were exported, of the value of 3,633. 



