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the sisal after it has entered its second year. My visit 

 there took place after the heavy rains, when the weeds 

 had the greatest hold, and it was anticipated that several 

 months would elapse before the plantations could be 

 weeded. The cost of cleaning is very variable. Where 

 cultivation can be done by machinery, as in the High- 

 lands, the cost may be as low as IDS. to 2os. per annum, 

 but at the coast it is greater, and in some parts of German 

 East Africa land can only be kept clean at a charge of 

 505. per acre per annum. 



Both in British and German East Africa only Agave 

 sisilana has been planted, and neither the Mexican variety 

 nor the Cantala. Though producing a fibre analogous in 

 appearance to Mexican sisal (henequen or Agave rigida 

 elongata), A. sisalana is botanically an entirely different 

 plant, as can be judged from the shape of the petal of 

 the flower, and the fact that the leaves of the henequen 

 have spikes along the edge as well as at the end. 



The African plant commences to mature in two and a 

 half to three years, and its cycle is five to six years, 

 whereas the Mexican plant matures after seven to eight 

 years, and is said to attain the age of 20 to 25 years. It 

 grows more slowly and produces about twenty-five leaves 

 each year, as against fifty to eighty leaves of African 

 sisal. An acre in Mexico turns out 1,000 to 1,500 Ib. per 

 annum of clean fibre, whilst a ton has been gathered in 

 one year in the uplands of British East Africa. Further, 

 whereas the soil and climate of Africa enable the plant to 

 produce three tons of fibre in a cycle of five to six years, 

 in Mexico it takes ten to twelve years to obtain this 

 same quantity of fibre. Mexico has the benefit in so 

 far as the plantations do not require renewal so often, 

 against which expenses in Africa are lower. The practice 

 in Mexico is shrouded in mystery and wants investigating, 

 but it is certain that the conditions in East Africa are more 

 favourable, and can therefore produce sisal at a lower 

 cost than Yucatan or Campeche. Sisal cannot be profit- 

 ably cultivated in patches, since less efficient machinery is 

 available to cope with a small production. It is there- 

 fore inadvisable for a man of limited means to engage in 

 its cultivation. It has been suggested that a group of 

 settlers plant each, say, 100 acres, and combine to instal 



