376 TlMEHRI. 



would be best to cut once in about three months, although an annual 

 crop is possible, but not quite so good, as a better selection can be 

 made at short intervals. 



The fibre machine in use seems to be a very good one. It is made 

 by Death and Ellwood of Leicester, and has been in use long enough to 

 have a fair trial, in some cases as long as twenty years. It consists of 

 a wheel of 50 inches in diameter and 8 inches broad on the face where 

 are 8 knives or scrapers. Any number of machines may be provided 

 and driven by a steam engine. Two wheels may be fed by a boy, and 

 the fibre removed to the drying grounds by three men. Each wheel 

 cleans 20 leaves per minute or 8,000 per day, the produce in fibre being 

 about 5 per cent, of the leaves used. No water is used, so that after 

 drying for two hours the product is fit for baling. The cost of the fibre 

 is estimated at about 2h cents per lb. in Yucatan, but the reporter thinks 

 that expenses would amount to about 3 cents in the Bahamas. In the 

 local market at Merida it fetches about iof cents and in the foreign 

 markets 1 1 or 12 cents, showing a profit of 200 to 300 per cent. It must 

 be understood that these estimates refer to a large plantation with 20 to 

 30 wheels continually at work, and it is natural to suppose that smaller 

 farms would have larger expenses in proportion. The principal farm 

 cleaned daily 48,000 leaves or 72,000 lbs., from which 3,600 lbs. of fibre 

 was produced. 



The Commissioner recommends for the Bahamas, a Central Factory, 

 to which the peasants might bring their leaves, as it would be impossi- 

 ble for any but a very large grower to keep the machinery continually 

 working. To keep 6 wheels going daily, it would require 600 acres of 

 plants. The average annual produce of one acre being 19 tons of leaves 

 or 18 cwts. of fibre ; the value of this piece of land would be something 

 like $200, from which, after deducting labour, wear and tear of 

 machinery, and other expenses, it would certainly appear that fortunes 

 could be easily made in this cultivation. The cost of weeding and cut- 

 ting would be very little, carriage to the central factory might give some 

 trouble, but taking everything into consideration there must be a profit. 



The Commissioner also went to Cuba where he found an English 

 Fibre Company commencing the cultivation of Agave Americana and 

 Sanseveira. but no results are forthcoming as yet. 



The matter is a very important one. If it could be taken up in this 

 colony, we have thousands of acres of sand reefs that could be utilised 

 — land that is otherwise useless, while the plants are easily obtainable. 



