178 
plant, yielding 60 lbs. of fibre to the 1,000 ani im the Sade would be = 
follows :—33 x Te oe = 21,450 leaves yieldin : 
clean fibre per um. The planters never mab epea tae of their 
returns, as experience shows them that their crops can be relied on with 
almost complete certainty. 
Cost of Working and Profits—The at ee his crop to 
cost for cultivating, cutting, cleaning, baling a arketing from 2} 
cents to 3 cents per lb. At the present price o Abr, 5 cents per 1b., 
taking 3 cents as the cost of Taon an acre yielding 1,287 Ibs. 
would give a net profit of 25 d 
After comparing the soil aa plants of the pees with ape 
Yucatan, I assure your Excellency that the one compares most 
favourably ie the other ; and that we have in this colony ace re- 
quirement t for t he development of the enterprise, and I am most sanguine 
as to the aftitmato result of the Bahama Hemp industry. 
(Signed) E. JEROME STUART. 
LIII.—POLING IN AGAVE PLANTS. 
[K. B., 1893, pp. 315-321.] 
The progress of the fibre industry in the Bahamas has been fully 
noticed during the last four years in the pages of the Kew Bulletin. 
At the pr resent time the earlier plantations are approaching maturity, 
and it is anticipated by those interested in the subject that the export of 
fibre on a commercial Saas aps _— begin na year. 
In the meantime a ques of some importance has arisen in regard 
to the duration of life se poer pa sort of Apai cultivated for fibre 
purposes in n the Baham 
This is botanically psa wh as meN rigida, var. sisalana. It is 
rk green, smooth-leaved sort (with no marginal teeth) originally 
introduced, either directly or indirectly, from Yucatan. There it i 
known under the aboriginal name axci. 
The plant more generally cultivated for fibre in Yucatan is a glaucous- 
leaved sort, armed with small, black, marginal teeth (Agave rigida, var. 
elongata), known locally as "Saequi. The Bahamas plant, the Yaxci, 
is still also found in Yucatan, but apparently it is not specially selected 
for general cultivation. 
gave plants, a oe pa grown in green-houses in this 
country,and sometimes pu 
months on lawns and spree is that commonly called the American 
aloe se eed americana). Such plants produce nothing but leaves for 
the greater part of their life. In this state they may last for many 
ans of increasing the plant. This, 
however, is a purely vegetative reproduction. The exact life-period of 
Agaves in northern latitudes may vary from 10 to, possibly, 50 years or 
re. On account of this aig soni longevity eae succulent 
plants they are sometimes called Century plants. In the tropics, grown 
under natural conditions, these plants BE ine last longer than seven to 
12 or 15 years. Sooner or later, however, within the periods above 
mentioned, m = peeking on the A A under which r are 
placed, they th w up a “pole” or flowering stem. On will 
Papai rar appear the flowers, the patios yrfa seed, iol poten 
