682 



Extensively planted as a fenee plant in the _ Canaries where the 

 pulpy portion of the leaves is fed to cattle and the leaves are 

 used as thatch (Morris, PI. & Gardens, Canary Is. Journ. Roy. 

 Hort. Soc. 1896, p. 92). 



Propagated by bulbils which develop on the flowering sjDike, 

 easily'grown under conditions suitable for Sisal — described below. 



J 



Agave sisalana Perr, {Agave rigida, Miller, var. sisalana). 



A low growing plant, short rootstock, with a rosette like head. 

 Leaves, pale green, fleshy, 3-6 ft. long; 3-5 in. wide in the 

 middle, edges usually smooth with a terminal spine. Inflorescence 

 a scape 12-25 ft. high; flowers about 2|-in. (Dewey); bearing 

 numerous bulbils. 



III. — Dodge, U.S. Dept. Agric. Fiber Investig. Rep. No. 3, 

 1891, t, 1; Agric. Gaz. N.S. Wales, iii. 1892, t. 47; Mulford, 



Missouri 



Queensland 



Journ. iii. 1898, t. 48; Sem. Hort. 1900, pp. 329-333; Shattuck, 

 Bahama Is. t. 40; Agric. Gaz. N.S. Wales, xviii. 1907, pp. 907- 

 909, if. 1-3; 19th Rep, Mssouri Bot. Gdn. 1908, t. 29; Bull. 

 Agric. Congo Beige, iii. 1912, ff. 315-321; Trelease, Mem 



Sci. Washin 



115; PhiHppine Agric. 



Rev. vi. 1913, t. 2; vii, 1914, tt. 2-5; Garten-Zeitung (Berlin), 

 1914, p. 14; Bull. Agric. Congo Beige, vi. 1915, p. 43, f. 18 

 (field— 1 9 months old plants). 



Vernac, names. — Yaxci (Maj^a Indian, Dewey) ; Yaxci 

 (Yucatan, Morris) ; Pita (Bahamas, Morris) ; Henequen Verde 

 (Spanish, Deivey)\ D'Aloes Bleu (Mauritius, L' Agric. Col. Paris, 

 ii. 1914, p. 53). Sisal Hemp. 



Native of Central America. Cultivated in the Bahamas, 



India, East Africa, East and West Indies, Fiji, &c. and 



experimentally at the Botanic Stations in West Africa — in lists. 



Old Calabar 1897-99; growing at Oloke-Meji (Kew Bull. 1908, 



p. 200) and in list of plants available for distribution. Gold Coast, 

 1910— naturalised in Florida. 



Fr 



The principal commercial sources are the Bahamas, Turks & 

 Caicos Islands, Java, East Africa, Bengal, Natal, Mexico, etc. 

 The value in 1913 per ton, was for Indian £17-£27; Mexican 

 £26 105.-£27 105. — Mexico supptying 524 tons in that year to 

 the United Kingdom; but large quantities are also shipped t 

 the United States. This country is mentioned more particularly 

 as being the principal source of " Sisal '' but the figures generally, 



term 



fibres — except 



the Bahamas, our most successful colonies in the production of 

 sisal fibre and the greater part of the Bahamas produce from 

 2000-3000 tons approximately, a year — goes to the United 

 States. The first shipment from B. E. Africa anived in London 

 at the end of 1911, when it was reported that about 5000 acres 

 had been planted that were expected to produce within two vears 



