6S6 



Africa," Kew Bull. 1908, pp. 300-302. " Sisal Hemp an(J 



Mauritius Hemp," in The Handbook of Nyasaland, pp. 197-19^ 



(Wyman & Sons, London, 1910). "Note sur la Culture des 



Principaux Agaves Textiles," Miny, in Bull. Agric. Congo Beige,. 

 iii. 1912, pp. 430-459.— — " Review of the Sisal Industry in the 

 East Africa Protectorate," Powell, in Ann. Rep. Dept. Agric. 



B.E. Africa, 1912-1913 : App. B. pp. 72-78. ^Maguey & Sisal 



Culture, Saleehy, in Philippine Agric. Review, vi. May 1913,. 



pp. 207-222. " Sisal Hemp in Fiji," Kew Bull. No. 6, 191.3,. 



pp. 231-233. " Hemp ; Sisal-Henequen," Cousins, in Journ. 



Jamaica Agric. Soc. xviii. Aug. 1914, pp. 334-336.: "Agave 



sisalana & A . fourcroydes in Jamaica," Kew Bull. 1914, pp. 350— 



352. Sisal Hemp : Its Cultivation, Preparation, and UtiUsa- 



tion, BuU. Imp. Inst. xiii. 1915, pp. 430-446 with illustr. of 



machinery. " Sisal Hemp," I.e. 1917, pp. 485-488. " Sisal 



Hemp," in Cotton and Other Veg. Fibres : Their Production & 

 TJtihsation, Goulding, pp. 166-180 (John Murray, London, 1917), 



-^ 



FuECRAEA, Vent. 



Fureraea gigantea. Vent, in Bull. Soc. Philom. i (1793) p. 65. 



A low growing plant, sometimes developing a stem 2-4 ft. 

 high with a rosette-like head of upwards of 50 leaves— 4-7 ft. 

 long, 4-6 in, across the middle, thick, fleshy, Avith a short 

 terminal spine, otherwise usually unarmed. Inflorescence a central 

 scape, 20-30 ft. high bearing comparatively small greenish -white 

 flowers and numerous bulbils . 



Ill—Bot. Mag. t. 2250; Wight, Ic. PI. Ind. Or. t. 2025; 

 De CandoUe, PI. Grass, t. 126; Natal Agric. Journ. x. May 

 1907, p. 529 (plants 5 months old) ; Agric, Journ. Union S. Africa,, 

 V. 1913, pp. 818, 820, tt. 62, 63; Bull, Agric. Congo Beige, iii. 

 1912, p. 433, f. 317; vi. 1915, p. 41, f. 15 (plants 21 months old). 



Vernac. names. — Aloe or Aloes vert (Mauritius, Bojer, Home, 

 Morris J StocJcdale); Pique (Colombia, Daive); Pique (Venezuela, 



Ernst)] Aloe (Natal, Sim, Medley Wood). — Mauritius Hemp,. 



Giant Lily {Dodge). 



Tropical America : introduced to Mauritius, Ceylon, India, 

 St. Helena, Belgian Congo, Natal, East and West Africa — 21 

 plants, received at Old Calabar, from Kew, 1896 (Am. Rep. 

 Bot. Gdns. 1896-7), growing at Oloke Meji (Kew Bull. 1908, 

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

 1910 — Queensland, West Indies, Algeria, etc. 



A cordage fibre. In Colombia the fibre is used for the soles of 

 Alpargatas (or shoes), for making sacks for the transport o| 

 coffee, charcoal, maize and produce generally, for pack-saddles, 

 girths for transport mules and bullocks, and for the manufacture 

 of ropes, cord, matting and cash bags. The green leaves are 

 used in this country for thatching (Kew Bull. 1916, p. 169). 



The commercial sources of the fibre to the United Kingdom 

 are Mauritius— 5647 bales shipped in 1917; 1974 bales (reduction 

 due to lack of tonnage) shipped in 1918 (Ann. Rep. Dept. Ag^c. 



