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from six or seven to ten years, the Agave will go on yielding- 

 annual crops of huge fleshy leaves, 4 to 6 feet in length, for a 

 term of eight or ten years longer. Spon observes that — " The 

 culture of the plant is being extended in America, but not to the 

 extent it deserves. ..." The product is often known com- 

 mercially as " Agave thread," and is exported for admixture with 

 Manilla hemp. The fibre may be separated by bruising the 

 leaves, maceraiting, or by a boiling or steaming process. Most 

 eilective machinery for the preparation of it has been used of late 

 years in Mexico and other parts of America, by the aid of which 

 it can be made ready for cleaning a few hours after the leaves- 

 have been cut, or in the same way that " Agave sisalina " and 

 other species or varieties are prepared at the Bahamas and Yuca- 

 tan. The variegated kinds of the A. Americana, frequently 

 seen in our gardens, yield fibre quite equal to that obtained from 

 the glaucous green-leaved or normal form, and this is more easily 

 prepared by the water process. Professor Dodge says that — " In 

 Mexico the common kind is utilized in the manufacture of ropes 

 for use in the mines, and, in some cases, for the rigging of ships. 

 In South America it has been used for large cables. Humboldt 

 mentions a bridge in Quito, with a span of 130 feet, constructed 

 of ropes made of this fibre, some of them 4 inches in diameter. 

 The name ' Pita' follows it to Spain and Sicily, where it is used 

 for cordage and mats." Dr. Forbes Royle says — " That it has- 

 been found superior in strength to either coir, jute, or Sunn-Hemp. 

 In a trial of strength near Calcutta, the tests were made with 

 ropes 1 fathom long and 3 in dies in circumference, with the fol- 

 lowing results: — The Agave or "Pita" broke in a strain of 

 2,.519J lbs., coir 2,175 lbs., jute 2,456^ lbs., and Sunn-Hemp- 

 2,269^ lbs. In an experiment with Russian hemp and " Pita " 

 (stout cords), the first named broke with 160 lbs. weight, and the 

 latter with 270 lbs." These experiments. Professor Dodge adds^ 

 show the great strength of the fibre, which is worthy of more 

 extended cultivation and employment in the arts. An enterprising 

 firm in Sydney, known as " The Australian Hemp and Fibre 

 Company," have recently established a plantation of 600 acres of 

 this Agave and Fourcroya gigantea ( " Mauritius Hemp " ) at 

 Jervis Bay, from which they expect to obtain handsome returns 

 in the course of a few years. The following letter from one of' 

 the principal shareholders in the company was received by me : — 



The Australian Hemp and Fibre Company Limited, 



11 Central Chambers, 173 I'itt-street, Sydney, 



11th December, 1893. 



Dear Sir,— It gives me pleasure to reply to your esteemed favour of the 

 8th iust. Auy information I may have will ahvays be at your service. 

 This company has, so far, planted about 600 acres at Jervis Bay with. 

 Agaves and Fourcroyas. We began planting rather more than two years • 

 since. The land there forms a, peninsula, being bordered by sea on three 



