158 
upper part of the pole. In about six months after the appearance = 
the pole, bulbils that develop into young plants ad varying i 
length from 2 to 4 inches, and in number from 1, to 2,500, aiid 
aT more. They are then gathered and set out 8 or 9 inches 
h way in nursery beds. In six months they will attain a 
otk of 8 to 12 inches, and they may then be transferred to the 
d. 
“Suckers are plants which grow out from the roots of the parent 
plant, and in congenial soil are produced in 12 ee = masts: me 
sugar cane. After the removal of the sucker, the shoot is cut up into 
lengths of two or three joints. These bits are then planted in nursery 
beds, and in a short time each bit will produce as many suckers as there 
are joints. This method has the two-fold advantage of speedily in- 
way, ies Tx, TXS 1x 9, 8x8, and 9x9. The Munro Company 
at Abaco plant three rows 8 feet apart, with 7 feet interval between 
the plants, ond leave a ucs of Pe ie mam every ourth row. 
e Bahama Hemp Company, Limited, u Mr. Abbot, 
dua four rows 8 x 8, leaving a BAe “of 12 feet between every fifth 
row. 
planters have planted the spaces between the Sisal plants 
with some other crop, either ground provisions such as pigeon-peas 
n 
stron d, 
ways that such auxiliary crops be not too thickly plats planted. ‘The slight 
holier they afford seems to be beneficial to the Sisal plants in their 
early growth, and tends to suppress the growth of weeds, thereby 
lessening the cost of keeping clean the field, besides yielding a remune- 
rative crop. Sweet potatoes should not be "plan ted in a Sisal field, at 
least not until the plants have attained a growth a a foot and a half to 
two feet, as the vines very soon ines ien field and completely envelop 
that really good rich na i: is ipaa for its successful cultivation, 
but merely to remove the impression, if such there be, that the plant 
ill ive in dry arid sand, or on rocky land void of soil. Worn out 
‘ provision ’ and pine-apple fields appear to be well suited to its culti- 
vation, while on broken, rocky surfaces, containing innumerable 
‘potholes’ and crevices, in which is deposited the sun black or 
red earth, the plant luxuriates, 
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