CHAPTER XII 



SISAL HEMP AND BLACK WATTLE 



Sisal Hemp. — The cultivation of sisal in the Pro- 

 tectorate may at last be said to have become one of 

 the proved industries of the Highlands. Messrs. 

 Swift and Rutherford, the pioneers of sisal planting 

 in the Highlands, erected their machinery during the 

 course of the last twelve months, and are now turning 

 out about two tons of fibre daily. The price realised 

 is a satisfactory one, and leaves a very good margin of 

 profit indeed. It may be said without cavil from any 

 quarter that success was never better earned than in 

 the case of these two gentlemen. 



As this book has no pretence whatever to be a 

 scientific work, it is not the place to enter on a disserta- 

 tion as to the best methods of planting, growing, 

 or decorticating the fibre. The subject is, moreover, 

 an extremely thorny one, since sisal grows in such 

 very different circumstances and climatic conditions 

 that no definite rule for any but the most circumscribed 

 locality can be laid down. It stands to reason that 

 any man or company prepared to risk a considerable 

 amount of capital would before so doing carefully 

 study the conditions on the spot. 



There are certain great advantages in the Highlands 



