35 
no shade in its native habitat or in those islands where it has fairly 
become ipe cs , yet in introducing its cultivation to these islands it 
is rather an advantage to give the "plants slight shade, at any rate, 
during the first few months of its growth.” 
In the Report of c^ Curator of the Botanical mes at St. Vincent, 
dated the lst August 1890, it is stated that * two thousand plants of 
Sisal hemp um Agav ve rigida, var. salon na) have been received 
from Flo undr thir i 
ed and thirty of ue were found on arrival 
to be sree aria ere distributed. The remaining 
270 were retained for the Botanic Gardens, where the largest plants 
were placed in the most suitable ground at my disposal, ver rest T 
In connexion with introduction of plants of Sisal ne: to St. - 
yp it may be mentioned that in August 1890, Mr. J. H. Hart, 
, Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens, ni 
of Agave rigida. It was furnished with teeth and it yielded very uar 
fibre. Specimens of this plant are now under cultivation at Kew. It 
is evidently closely allied to tbe: Sisal hemp plants, but the leaves are 
short, and seldom exceed 14 to 2 feet in length. The habit of the plant 
of t 
Lucia for the year 1890, it is stated that ** ies the view of forward- 
; hc ol : : : 
* and were at once planted in nursery beds to gain strength before the 
* final planting out. Of these plants about 700 have been iere F sold, 
* and orders have been booked for immediate execution; one for 
* plants and the other for 600 plants. 
Sourn EUROPE. 
Various varieties of Agave fh ire are found in the south of Europe 
and especially in the gardens of the Riviera. ey are grown chiefly 
as ornamental plants, but large quantities of suckers and bulbils would 
no doubt be available if they were required for distribution to other 
gie These plants have yatta. been studied on the spot by 
Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., keeper of the herbarium and libra: rary at Kew, 
and a note upon them was given in the Kew Bulletin for January last, 
p. 4, which is reproduced :— 
* Agave rigida, Miller. Thisis the most valuable and most variable of 
all the Agaves. It is common and quite at decal in es Riviera gardens 
Ex pbi freely. I had an opportunity of studying its character 
8 
E 
ej e 
z 
rode several forms with which I was not previously acqua 
commonest forms on the Riviera show the characteristic inal ‘distant 
nearly black teeth, and agree very well with what have been described 
