687 



■t 



Mauritius, for 1918, p. 5)^ — St. Helena and Natal; value in 1913, 

 £25-£29; 1915, £34-£35 (Kew Bull. 1917, p. 282) and in Dec* 

 1919, £40-£44 for '* Common," £50-£o3 for "Fair" and £57- 

 £60 per ton for " Prime " (Mon. Circ. Ide & Christie, 15th Dec. 

 1919), A sample of fibre from S. Nigeria was valued (1908) at 

 about £28 per ton (Col. Rep. Ann. No. 601, 1909, p. 30). Fibre 

 prepared from plants well established at Oloke-Meji was exhibited 

 at an Agricultural Show, Lagos, 1906 (Col. Rep. Misc. No. 51, 

 1908, p, 47). 



Two samples of Mauritius Hemp grown at Lokoja and 

 Zungeru, N. Nigeria, were described as " well prepared, of palo 

 cream colour and of good strength,*' the value of similar fibres in 

 the United Kingdom (Dec. 1915) being estimated at £32 per 

 ton, if shipped in quantity and of regular length — measuring 

 not less than 4 ft. (Nig. Gaz. July 20th, 1916, p. 431). 



In Colombia the plant is grown everywhere in the sub-tropical 

 parts, but especially in the districts of hmestone formation 

 (Kew Bull. I.e.), In general the propagation, cultivation and 

 preparation may be regarded as the same as for " Sisal '' (d-v.) 

 but the following particulars furnished by the Director of Forests 

 and Gardens in Mauritius to the Department of Agriculture in 

 Natal, may be of interest ''The Aloe leaves can be cut about 

 4 years after the plants are laid out, a second crop 10 months 

 later, a third 15 and a fourth 18 months after and so on every 

 18 months until the Aloe plants send up their shoots or poles 

 which bear bulbils in great quantities for reproduction and the 

 plants die.'' '' Plants are laid out 4 x 4 ft. or 5 X 5 ft. according 

 to soil and climate/' " One acre of planted Aloes can give about 

 60,000 leaves yielding a ton of dry marketable fibre " (Natal 

 Agric. Journ. ix. 1906, p. 1204). It is probable that considering 

 the length of leaf when fully developed, the distance apart in 

 the field may require to equal that given for Sisal, in a tropical 

 chmate. The local methods of extraction do not so far appear 

 to have been superseded by machinery. " Experiments with the 

 Corona fibre machine during the year (1918) indicate that the 

 machine can after suitable adjustment quite satisfactorily de- 

 corticate * Furcraea ' fibre, on the other hand the output of 

 fibre is very much less than that which is obtained when * Sisal ' 

 is dealt wath and on this account the value for ' Furcraea ' is 

 discounted in comparison with the local grattes " (Ann. Kept. 

 Dept. Agric. Mauritius, I.e.). 



Bel 



a 



Kew 



"Mauritius Hemp Machines," I.e. 1890, pp. 98-104 and 



in Add. Series ii. '^ Veg. Fibres,'' pp. 208-217. "Mauritius 



Hemp," Morris, in Journ. Soc. Arts, xliii. 1895, p. 922. 



World 



Fiber Investief. Ren. No 



" Furcraea gigantea/' Bull. Imp, Inst. ii. 1904, p. 84, fibre from 



Zomba, with analysis. " Furcraea gigantea Fibre from India," 



I.e. iii. 1905, pp. 142-144. ''Agave and Furcraea Fibres from 



L 2 



