10 
“ and the | facilities which it naturally affords for propagation and 
“ inc crease 
At St. H elena Furcrea gigantea has been for some time under 
cultivation as an introduced plant. Experiments on a small scale have 
market. (Report on et of the Island of St. Helena, Colonial 
Office, African No. 275, 1884.) 
Messrs. enit and Co. reported in 1883 on fibre from St. Helena as 
follows : 
e Aloe fi e (Furerea gigantea) St. Helena. Good length, full 
“ strength, Sa dull colour, generally well cleaned but with some 
& runners untouched atid barky. Meet 287. to 30/. per ton. This 
“ sample is very different in appearance from the Furcrea gigantea 
a Mauritius, owing probably to differe ences of both growth and treat- 
“ ment. 
While on the subject of fibre from Furcræa gegantea it may not be 
ah eer to say a few words as regards the merits of another species, 
Fur cubensis. This, as already pointed out, is possibly one of the 
plants under the name of Cajun from which some of the Yucatan fibre 
is obta’ 
It differs from F. ijnuies in that it has no distinct trunk, or a very 
short one, below the rosette of leaves. The latter are 3 to 5 ft. long, 
about 5 inches broad at the middle, bright green, rigid in texture, and 
armed with regular, hooked, brown prickles. 
It is a native of tropical America and cultivated in most tropical 
countries. A variety of this Bours cubensis, var. inermis—is figured 
and described in Bot. Ma fy 3. 
ition to flowers it *dngas bulbils > the flowering scape, from 
which the plant is readily increased. The plant is com mon in Jamaic a, 
and it is said that there “ would be no difficulty i in establishing there a 
iarge area under cultivation.” The fibre is white, strong, and bright 
looking. It yields at the rate of 2:05 to 3:15 per cent. by weight of 
green leaf. From experiments carried on at Jamaica under a committee 
appointed by Government it was found that leaves of Furcrea cubensis 
weighing 3664 pounds yielded 28 pounds of green fibre, which when 
ting wai weighed 7} Pe This was at os rate of 2:05 
“ Silk grass (Furcrea cubensis p: Taagikh to 6 feet long, generally 
“armed with strong atishia but sometimes unarmed or with few 
“ prickles. atl in Jamaica and might be largely propapnted at 
e of fib a.) 281., good quality, but might be whiter ; 
sf « 0) fairly alein. fair colour, value about 287. per ton; (c.) superior 
to Sisal and wort et 271. per ton. A good fibre, not quite sufficiently 
white | in the centr 
The above plants constitute the chief species of Agave and Furcræa 
yielding commercial fibr 
It m may be mentioned Bate that many Agaves yield fibre, but the fibre 
may, as in the case o oa Jamaica Keratto, prove unsuitable for indus- 
oP he Brokers’ Report on Keratto fibre was—<“little 
strength : not an vet (but a curly) fibre: towy: value 12/. to 144. 
on.” 
Plants yielding true Sisal Hemp might be obtained from Yucatan in 
large quantities, 
D. M. 

