FIBRES 515 



an up-to-date plant at the centre of their plantations 

 worked on a co-operative system. In practice it may be 

 difficult to work out this scheme. 



A good modern machine, such as the New Corona, 

 produces from two to two and a half tons of cleaned fibre 

 in a day of six to ten hours. To keep it going, say 200 

 days in the year with 60 to 70 tons of leaf per day, five to 

 six hundred acres must be cut out in a year in German 

 East Africa. 



In the uplands of British East Africa 300 to 400 acres 

 will supply the annual consumption of a Corona machine, 

 and it is sufficient to plant 900 to 1,000 acres. An area of 

 1,500 acres may be reserved for each machine, one-third of 

 this to lie fallow. 



In German East Africa it is reckoned that 20,000 

 capital is necessary to bring the plantation to bearing 

 point, supply the necessary machinery, and leave a margin 

 for working capital. A smaller sum should suffice in the 

 British East African uplands, where labour is cheaper and 

 the land worked with a smaller expenditure of labour. 



It is evident that where machinery and oxen can be 

 used for cultivation, and therefore little need be expended 

 for clearing, the cost of producing sisal is below that 

 where the ground must be tilled by hand, either for lack 

 of animals or because of the nature of the soil. In com- 

 pensation, barren, rocky land can be obtained at a lower 

 cost. 



Methods vary in different sisal-producing countries. 

 A study of the practice in Mexico and Java reveals the 

 advantages enjoyed by planters in East Africa, and con- 

 tributes to the conclusion that, provided an adequate 

 labour supply be ensured, the industry must become the 

 most important of East Africa because of its unrivalled 

 conditions, viz. : 



(1) Unequalled climate, 



(2) Fertility of soil, 



(3) Cheap native labour, 



(4) Low-priced land, 



contributing to a low initial cost, compared with the 

 average price of the last ten years, 33 per ton. 



