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CHAPTER VI. 

 ALOE AND AGAVE FIBRE. 



THE name aloe fibre includes the fibres obtained from a large 

 number of plants of the same and allied species. Some of the 

 best-known aloe fibre-producing plants are : 



Agave Americana (blue aloe). 



A. augustifolia (small-leaved aloe). 



A . rigida (Sisal hemp). 



A. morrisi ,, 



A. vivipam ,, 



Furcroya gigantea (Mauritius hemp). 



F. Cubensis (silk grass). 



The A. Americana has a long sword-like leaf, with parallel 

 veins, and 8 to 10 ft. long. The leaf terminates in a strong 

 spike. 



When the young suckers, which are both given off from the 

 stem of the mother-plant and produced in the long flower- 

 stalk, are planted in the ground, they put forth a quick growth, 

 and become full-sized plants within three or four years of their 

 planting. 



The aloe does not flower as soon as it matures. It takes 

 from eight to twenty years before it produces the long pole- 

 like flower-stalk, 12 to 18 ft. in length, which bears an im- 

 mense number of branches, all of which produce flowers, and 

 at last young suckers. The fibre is found in the leaves, and 

 is long and strong. Aloe fibre has long been used in Mexico 

 in the manufacture of ropes and cordage, whilst in the West 

 Indies, ropes, fishing nets, and hammocks are made from it. 

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