152 
A small but promising effort is being made to grow fibre at some of 
the Turks and Caicos Islands, and plants obtained from this source 
and shies Florida Eia been introduced into most of the West Indian 
mer 
the wisdom or otherwise of embarking in a fibre industry at the pronomi 
im t the close of the article, a statement is given of the average 
price per ton obtained for Sisal hemp in this country during the last 13 
years. 
aoa TAN. 
Et bars oe the Sisal Hemp industry in Yucatan has 
already been n the Kew Bulletin for See 1887. Biase that 
time an effort ] pa cy en made to obtain t from Yucatan a repre- 
sentative collection of the various Agaves Enaid in that country for 
fibre purposes 
Through the kind offices of the late Mr. Augustus er, Her 
t Vera ls 
Majesty’s Consul a Cruz, a large plant with a tall stem and 
flowering panicle was received at Kew in May . The plant was 
dead on arrival, but it has ziem been prepared as a museum specimen, 
and is now deposi ited in Museum III. The dimensions of this plant are 
as follows: soph of stem (aov — leaves) 4 sist ; circumference of 
stem 36 in.; number of leaves on stem, 50; length of leaves about 
fis ‘poonich of leaves 34 in. ; sees of peduncle 14 ft. The 
branched panicle was received in an incomplete aot oe but the 
The 
T are faraikod throughout with anini black teeth about L pi apart. 
This plant belongs probably to the ur elongata (Agave rigida, 
var. elongata). It is evident that in Yucatan the plants cava for 
bre are largely composed of this variety. We earn, for instance, that 
in harvesting the leaves the Indian who cuts off the leaves is followed 
y an Indian woman, “ who with a pee cuts off the spike or thorn- . 
“ tipped end and the ‘thorny side he = ready for the machine. 2 
In the case of leaves without teeth, such as ar e by plants of the 
oe aaa it = ; necessary to cut off the terminal 
By vesting. 
In addition to the large plant received from Yucatan, there were 
received two lots of small plants. The first of these was received on ~ 
the 3ist May 1890, and represented apparently about five distinct hoa 
A, rigida, and a gool 
number of A. rigida var. sisalana. The others ssakencitenk forms not 
easily determinable in a small state. A set, with the exception of the ` 
later. Th rs were all distributed to the Botanical Gardens at 
Singapore, and to the Botanical Se: at Fiji and Antigua. The 
second lot of small plants from Yuc ved at Kew on December 16, 
On arrival there were 30 ane Bat and 11 alive. The latter | 
were, how renee, so small and sickly that, weakened by the cold to-which 
they had been exposed, it was impossible to save them. This att empt — 
to introduce a representative collection of Agaves from Yucatan, in 
aa 
