564 FIBRES 



larity, and in this respect there is a distinct advantage 

 in cultivating bulbils that have been reared in nurseries. 



When cultivation is first started the plants are usually 

 obtained from a considerable distance. The cost of 

 carriage may in such cases be reduced by the use of 

 bulbils, which are first placed in nurseries, and there 

 develop into young plants. But when the cultivation has 

 progressed so far as to have suckers available usually 

 in the course of the second year the planter will, of 

 course, use these for planting purposes after having 

 previously sorted them according to their size, especially 

 where a sufficient stock of light railway rails is available. 

 At a later stage of cultivation, when both bulbils and 

 suckers have developed, the question of transport alone 

 will decide which material had best be used for growing, 

 viz., suckers where there are enough rails, otherwise 

 bulbils reared in nurseries. 



During the first two* years care must be taken to 

 prevent grass from growing in the plantation, and par- 

 ticularly overgrowing the agavse, otherwise in damp 

 weather the plants will show signs of rot and become 

 infected with fungi. Later, when the plants have grown 

 so tall that there is no danger of their being overgrown 

 by grasses, such scrupulous care to keep them free from 

 weeds is unnecessary. During the dry season it is even 

 advisable to leave the grass untouched because of the 

 shade it affords. 



A very important question is whether one should inter- 

 cultivate other plants among the agavae. During the last 

 few years experience with regard to this question has 

 been gained in German East Africa. At first cotton was 

 used for this purpose, owing to the cotton prices and the 

 state of the German cotton market at that time. On the 

 whole, however, it should be noted that a good cotton 

 soil and a good sisal soil are incompatible. Good results 

 have, it is true, been calculated for cotton inter-cultivation 

 in certain sisal plantations; but this was only possible 

 because the cost of weeding was debited entirely or to a 

 great part to the cultivation of the agavse, inasmuch as 

 weeding would have been required, even if no inter- 

 cultivation had been practised. In countries where the 



