FIBRES 565 



rainy and the dry season cannot be accurately determined 

 beforehand it is not expedient to inter-cultivate cotton. 

 Where, however, the climate is suitable for cotton grow- 

 ing, as in the south of the Protectorate, the inter- 

 cultivation of cotton will pay well in the earlier stages of 

 agave growing, especially in newly started plantations. 

 For, whilst the agavse are developing, the produce of 

 cotton culture will be sufficient to cover a considerable 

 part of the expenses. 



Various kinds of beans have also occasionally been 

 used for inter-cultivation, but never to any extent. In 

 some cases the result was not satisfactory, climbing 

 beans, which twine around the young plants, proving 

 especially injurious. 



Great importance attaches to the methodical renewal 

 of the plantation. The following calculation may serve 

 as a typical instance : 



A stock of 1,000,000 plants requires a total area of 

 2,000 hectares 1 when worked in regular rotation, and if 

 the planting distance be 2*5 by 1*25 m., i.e., about 

 3,200 agavse to the hectare. For every million plants 

 it is necessary to plant out one-third, viz., 340,000 

 young plants, every year, this number representing a 

 surface of no to 120 hectares. Thus, 1,000,000 agavse 

 requires 325 hectares of soil. The second million of 

 agavse, which must in time replace the first, requires a 

 further area of 325 hectares, thus giving a total of 650 

 hectares. When the first lot of agavae filling a space of 

 about no hectares has run its course (i.e., between the 

 sixth and seventh years, when the flower-bearing stem 

 develops), a fresh space of no hectares must be planted. 

 In this way cultivation is worked in regular rotation over 

 the whole area of 1,836 hectares. Thus, after the first 

 lot has been harvested at the end of the seventh year, 

 and the ground has subsequently lain fallow for a sufficient 

 number of years (seven years under normal conditions, 

 but this time varies according to special requirements), 

 it again becomes ready for cultivation. 



1 This figure allows for roads, factories, building extensions, 

 etc. 



