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apart. When 7 or 8 years old the cutting of the plants begins, 

 suckers being in the meantime planted in between the original 

 plants. The plant can be propagated from seed also, sowing 

 being done in the rainy season. Transplanting should be done 

 after a year on ridges. After the flowering stalk has appeared 

 the leaves should be at once used for extraction of fibre. Be- 

 fore this period the fibre is weak. After 7 years the plant will 

 yield about 10 maunds of fibre per acre per annum (from 50 

 maunds of leaves). No irrigation or manuring or weeding is 

 required and all the care necessary after planting must be 

 devoted to the extraction of the fibre from the leaves. A 

 machine similar to the sugarcane crushing machine should be 

 used for crushing out the juice and breaking the outer par- 

 enchyma. The crushed leaves are then pounded on smooth 

 stones with wooden mallets until all the cellular and woody 

 matter are separated, by washing the fibre in an adjoining run- 

 ning pool of water alongside of which the beating operation 

 should take place. The fibre is then dried in the sun and 

 exported or used. For paper-making purpose it has been 

 found to be a very valuable material. 



482. The Mauritius hemfi. The variety of aloes grown 

 in Mauritius is the green or foetid aloe (Fourcroya gigantea). 

 This plant is now cultivated in parts of Ceylon and India. 

 In German East Africa also the Mauritius hemp and hemp- 

 extracting machine have been introduced. Any poor and dry 

 land suits it. Gravelly soil produces the best fibre. Moist and 

 rich lands are not suitable. In fact the plant flourishes best 

 where ordinary vegetation does not cover the land. The 

 leaves are 4 to 7 feet long, 4 to 6 inches broad at the middle, 

 bright green in colour and either armed with small black 

 marginal spines or altogether smooth. The pulp when the 

 leaves are crushed gives off strong pungent odour, Planting 

 should be done in the open in the rainy season. The plant 

 reaching maturity, a flower stalk 15 to 20 ft. in height 

 grows out from its centre. The blossoms form into bulbels 



