66 CORDAGE FIBRES 



like rushes, to an average height of about 3 ft. It has long, 

 flat blades, which are pulled up by the roots, dried in the 

 sun, and packed in bundles. In Algeria there is a closely 

 allied fibre called alfa (Macrochloa arenaria), and in Tripoli and 

 Tunis a third fibre called dis (Festuca pcibula). 



Cordage made from esparto is largely exported from Spain 

 to France, Italy, Holland, Portugal, the United States, and 

 England. The port of Lake Aguilas, near Carthagena, ships 

 about 20,000 tons of different kinds of fabrics made from it, 

 and those ports on the coast from Alicante to Almeria about 

 5,000 tons more. No less than 50,000 persons are said to be 

 employed in twisting this fibre in the two last-named districts. 

 The Spanish marine and mining industries employ a great 

 quantity of cordage made with esparto, which costs about 

 11 per ton on the average. 



The zapupe fibre plant is very similar in appearance to the 

 henequen plant of Yucatan. The leaves, however, are 

 longer, and not so fleshy. The centre of its cultivation is 

 the town of Tuxpam, in Mexico. In preparing a plantation 

 the land is cleared, and scions or suckers planted about 7 ft. 

 from each other in either direction. Until the third year of 

 their growth, when their shade checks injurious undergrowth, 

 they must be weeded. The plant yields its first cutting of 

 leaves in the fourth year. From the first to the third year 

 after beginning to yield it will produce from TOO to no 

 leaves annually, gradually decreasing to between seventy-five 

 and eighty leaves, and retaining that production consecu- 

 tively for fifteen years. Cutting the leaves is a very simple 

 operation, the labourer being supplied with a long-bladed 

 knife, having a sharp hook-like curve at the end, which is 

 introduced between the stump and the leaf, and the latter cut 

 off close to the stump with a dexterous upward jerk. The 

 leaves may be harvested throughout the year, from twenty to 

 twenty-five leaves being cut every ninety days. If the leaves 

 are not cut regularly the life of the plant will be materially 



