FIBRES 5I 



Whilst the first four mentioned materials are mainly 

 produced in Europe the others are all of tropical origin. 



SISAL HEMP. 



The production of fibres in the German Colonies has 

 been most successful in German East Africa, where 

 Agave sisaiana, Perrine, from whose long, succulent 

 leaves (over 2 m. in length) sisal hemp is obtained, is 

 the only fibre plant of commercial importance. The 

 attempt to stimulate the culture of agavae in German 

 East Africa was begun in 1893, when, on the advice of 

 Dr. Hindorf, seeding material from Florida was first 

 secured for the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft. 

 The development of its production has been very rapid. 

 In the last nine years the export of sisal hemp from 

 German East Africa has been : 



Quantity. Value. 



Tons Marks 



1905 ... ... ... 1,397 ... 1,071,296 



1906 . . ... ... 1,854 ... 1,368,169 



1907 

 1908 

 1909 

 1910 

 1911 



2,830 ... 2,161,685 



3,897 



5,284 



7,228 



11,213 



1912 ... ... 17,079 



1913 20,835 



2,865,633 

 2,333^025 

 3,011,625 

 4,532,249 

 7,359,86i 

 10,711,591 



In the beginning of the year 1908, 14,204 hectares were 

 planted with agavse, 4,376 of which were ready for 

 harvest; in the beginning of the year 1913 the cultivated 

 area had increased to 24,751 hectares, of which 14,359 

 hectares were paying. 



The greater part of Germany's demand for sisal is 

 already supplied by East Africa. Whilst formerly 

 Yucatan sisal hemp almost alone was at the disposal of 

 German industries, this fibre has now quite lost its field 

 in Germany, whereas East African hemp is in increasing 

 demand. According to the unanimous view of experts, 

 the sisal hemp grown in German East Africa is so ex- 

 cellent as to surpass the sisal fibre of other countries. 

 Indeed, the best quality of East African sisal is almost 

 equal to the much more expensive Manila hemp in many 

 respects, and in some points it is even better. This fact 



