DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 169 



Furcraea gigantea. Giant Lily. 



Native axd common names. — The Cabouya or Cabuja (Cent. Ain. and W. Ind.) ; 

 Cocuiza and Fique (Venez.) ; Pita and Pita jloja (Cost. Ri.); Peteria (Braz.); 

 Aloes vert and foetid aloe (Maurit.); giant fiber lily (Austr.). The fiber is 

 known commercially as Mauritius hemp. Fig. 1, PI. VII, is a greenhouse plant 

 of this species growing in the United States Botanical Garden. 



The plant is closely allied to the agaves and is found throughout tropical America. 

 It grows in Algeria and Natal, and is cultivated in St. Helena and Mauritius. It has 

 also been introduced into India, Ceylon, and Australia. It is of moderately quick 

 growth and attains great perfection. Like the agaves, these plants have long-lived 

 massive stems, immense fleshy leaves, and produce their flowers after many years upon 

 tall central stems, in pyramidal, candelabra- like form. 



Structural Fiber. — The fiber very closely resembles the sisal hemp of commerce, 

 and doubtless is often so called. Dr. Ernst, in the catalogue of the Venezuelan 

 department (Phil. Int. Exh., 1876), states that the fiber is very strong and is used 

 for cordage and gunny bags. It is prepared in the same manner as sisal hemp. 

 Samples of the Venezuelan specimens are dyed in* aniline to show that it will take 

 color. 



The plant is grown largely for fiber at St. Helena and Mauritius, and in the 

 London market the product is known as Mauritius hemp. In the Kew Bulletin for 

 March, 1887, the plant grown in Africa is described as having leaves 4 to 7 feet long, 

 4 to 6 inches broad at the middle, unarmed, light green in color, channeled down 

 the face. 



F. gigantea is supposed to have been introduced from South America to Mauri- 

 tius about 1790. It has evidently found a congenial home there, for without any 

 effort on the part of man it has covered waste lands and adandoned sugar estates to 

 such an extent as to lay the foundation of a considerable fiber industry. The 

 leaves are often 8 feet in length and from 6 to 7 inches in breadth. The pulp of the 

 leaves when crushed gives off a strong pungent odor, and hence this species is some- 

 times called the foetid aloe. The juice is strongly corrosive and soon acts upon 

 wrought iron; it is said to produce less effect on cast iron, while it is practically 

 inoperative on brass and copper. The plant grows in all soils and up to an elevation 

 of 1,800 feet above the level of the sea. It has, however, more generally dissem- 

 inated itself on the lowlands near the coast and on a few of the abandoned sugar 

 estates that have become too dry for cane cultivation. A fiber industry was started 

 at Mauritius about 12 years ago, when the wet or retting system was tried. The cut 

 leaves were first passed through the rollers of a sugar mill and steeped in water for 

 some days. The fiber was then washed and beaten out by hand in running water. 

 This process was soon found unsuitable, as the fiber was discolored and rendered 

 weak, and consequently commanded comparatively low prices. Attention was then 

 directed to extraction by means of gratteuse or scotching machines. Many machines 

 have since been tried, and it is believed that the purely mechanical difficulties con- 

 nected with cleaning the fiber have been for the most part overcome. The amount 

 of fiber obtained from leaves of the Aloes vert was at the rate of 3 per cent by 

 weight of green leaves. The yield of fiber was at the rate of about LV tons per acre. 

 A set of six machines driven by a steam engine of 8 horsepower (nominal) cleaned 

 1,155 pounds of fiber per day, which is at the rate of 193 pounds for each machine 

 per day. (Dr. Morris.) 



The production of this fiber is very great, especially in Barginsimeto, Coro, and 

 the State Los Andas, where it is known under the name of fique. It is used prin- 

 cipally in the manufacture of material for bags, horse blankets, fish nets, halters, 

 etc. But it should be produced in even greater quantities to enable us to establish 

 manufactories for cordage and bags necessary for the handling of the annual crop 

 of grains, as these articles are exported more and more extensively every year, prin- 

 cipally to the United States and Germany. (Dr. A. Ernst.) 



