FIBRE PLANTS 



325 



SISAL HEMP 



The plants that produce the fibre known to 

 commerce as "sisal" are agaves, near relatives of 

 the century plant, or aloe. The leaves are mar- 

 ginned with prickles, and grow out of the centre 

 of the short stalk. After the plant is three years 

 old the outer leaves are cut off and their fibres 

 separated by a machine called a "raspador." 

 For years a plant will go on yielding ten to fifteen 

 leaves each season. The throwing up of the 

 flower stem ends the leaf harvest, for the plant 

 dies when it completes its work. 



The "henequen," the sisal of Yucatan, the 

 West Indies, Mexico, and Hawaii, is the most im- 

 portant variety grown. It has been established 

 in India and in East Africa, where fibre of the 

 highest quality has been produced. For cordage, 

 sisal is second only to Manila hemp. 



RAMIE 



Another member of the stinging-nettle family 

 furnishes a silky, fine fibre from its inner bark. 

 It is a tall, reedy stem, whose bark is stripped 

 into "ribbons" which are scraped free of woody 

 tissue, and later of gum and coloring matter. 

 Ramie underwear has been introduced here. But 



