288 



FIBER PLANTS 



FIBER PLANTS 



dongata, and "yaxci" for var. Sisalana. The variety 

 dongata, cultivated only in Spanish America, is 

 known by the growers as "henequen," while the 

 variety Sisalana, cultivated mostly in English- 

 speaking countries, is called by the growers 

 "sisal." 



Both plants are perennial. They have rosettes of 

 fifty to seventy-five rigid, nearly straight, erect or 



Fig. 400. Drying flbei of Bisal. 



spreading leaves, three to five feet long, three to 

 five inches wide, and about one-fourth inch thick 

 above the base, terminating in a sharp reddish 

 brown spine about one inch long. At maturity, 

 eight to twenty-five years, the plant sends up a 

 flower-stalk ten to twenty feet high, bearing dense 

 clusters of erect flowers at the ends of horizontal 

 candelabra-like branches. The flowers are followed 

 by bulbils, or sometimes by seed-pods in dongata, 

 1,000 to 4,000 bulbils ("mast plants") being borne 

 on a single " pole." After flowering, the plant dies. 

 Suckers are sent up from the roots after the first 

 year until the plant dies. Sisal is a hard fiber three 

 to five feet long, rather coarse and stiff, light yel- 

 low or nearly white, nearly always lighter-colored 

 than abacd. 



The variety dongata, henequen or sacci, develops 

 an elongated trunk two to six feet high, and its 

 leaves, two to two and one-half inches thick at 

 the base, always have marginal spines, while the 

 variety Sisalana, sisal or yaxci, has no distinct 

 trunk ; its leaves are usually without marginal 

 spines and rarely more than one inch thick at the 

 base. It produces a stronger, softer, whiter fiber, 

 but in less quantity than the other variety. 



In eastern Yucatan the variety Sisalana is culti- 

 vated to a small extent for fiber for domestic pur- 

 poses, for hammocks, bags and the like, but the 

 fiber for export is secured from the variety don- 

 gata, cultivated most extensively in the region 

 about Merida. This variety is also cultivated in 

 Cuba, and to some extent in East Africa. The va- 

 riety Sisalana is cultivated in the Bahamas, Turks 

 and Caicos islands, Santo Domingo, Hawaii, Central 

 America, Bast Africa and India. The production 

 of Yucatan exceeds the combined production from 

 all the other localities. 



Sisal requires a continuous warm and rather dry 

 climate. The lowest recorded temperature in the 

 sisal-growing region of Yucatan is 48°, and the 

 annual rainfall twenty-nine to thirty-nine inches. 

 It endures Mght frosts in Tamaulipas. 



In Yucatan, and also in the Bahamas, the 

 principal regions of sisal cultivation, the plants 

 are grown almost exclusively over partly disin- 

 tegrated porous lime rock, largely of coral or 

 shell origin. Sisal will not grow well in light, 

 sandy soil, nor where water stands about its roots. 

 In most places it is grown at altitudes not more 

 than 100 feet above sea-level. 



Land is prepared by cutting and burning the 

 brush, and, unless too stony, it is plowed. Lines 

 about nine feet apart are marked, and the plants 

 are ^et about five feet apart in the rows. Suck- 

 ers taken from old plantations are used for pro- 

 pagation, except for starting plantations at long 

 distances, when bulbils are sometimes used, as they 

 are smaller and more easily transported. So far as 

 possible, the young plants are set out at the begin- 

 ning of the rainy season, especially in regions sub- 

 ject to severe drought. After the plants are set 

 they require no further care, except to cut the 

 weeds and grass about twice each year. Cultiva- 

 tion should be given two or three times each year 

 when the character of the soil permits. Vegetation 

 must be kept down, as it chokes and retards the 

 growth of sisal plants and furnishes material for 

 field fires, the most serious menace to the crop. 



The leaves are cut when three to flve feet in 

 length, and the outer ones are nearly horizontal. 

 In the Bahamas the first crop is cut in the third 

 or fourth year after the plants are set, and annual 

 crops thereafter for six to twelve years. In Yuca- 

 tan, the first crop is not cut until the sixth or sev- 

 enth year, and after that a crop is cut every eight 

 months for twelve to twenty-five years. The leaves 

 are cut with a large knife and tied in bundles of 

 twenty-five each, for transporting to the cleaning- 

 machine. Only the outer leaves are taken. 



Nearly all of th6 sisal of commerce is cleaned 

 by machinery. The different kinds of machines 

 are all similar in principle. The fresh green leaves 

 are fed sidewise at the rate of 10,000 to 30,000 

 per hour, and the green pulp crushed, beaten and 

 scraped away by two or three rapidly revolving 

 drums, against' which first one end of the leaf and 

 then the other is pressed by means of adjustable 

 curved aprons. In some machines, streams of water 

 play on the fiber as it passes from the scrapijig 

 wheels. It is taken directly from the machine to 

 the drying-yard, and, when dry, is baled for mar- 

 ket, usually without sorting, as it is rather uni- 

 form in quality. 



The yield of fiber ranges from 3 to 4 per cent 

 of the weight of the green leaves. The average 

 yield of clean, dry fiber is usually between 500 and 

 1,000 pounds per acre. 



Sisal is used most extensively for binder twine. 

 It is also used for lariats and general cordage of 

 one inch diameter and under for use on land. It 

 kinks in pulley-blocks and rots in salt water, hence 

 is not suitable for hoisting-ropes or marine cord- 

 age. It is heavier than abaca, and its working 

 strength is about one-third less than that of current 

 abacS rope of the same size and type. 



The increasing importance of sisal in our fiber 

 industries is indicated by the following table. 



