3 



affected, but after cutting off the ends of the injured leaves, there was nothing more seen of the trouble, 

 and the plants remained healthy and strong. I am told that this frequently happens in Florida, as 

 the atmosphere is more changeable than in the Bahamas ; but as this colony is protected by the Gulf 

 Stream, there is no probability of its happening here with frequency, and in Yucatan it has happened 

 once only in 30 years. The blast is caused by a sudden atmospheric change over which we have, and 

 can have, no control, and may happen at any time, but the loss of leaf 3o/o to 4o/o even 5o/o 

 would be so slight that it is looked upon with unconcern. 



I walked through hundreds of acres of the " Henequen," but beyond noticing that a leaf here 

 and there had a few inches dried on its end, similar to what is seen in this colony and Cuba, the plants 

 were perfectly healthy and free from disease. 



Kind of Machinery Used. 

 Cleaning Machine. Engines and Boilers. Press. Locomotives, &c. 



There are several kinds of machinery used for extracting the fibre on the different estates. 



Those cleaning less than 75,000 leaves per day, used the large common wheels, Raspador and 

 Barraclough, and those cleaning from 80,000 to 120,000 per day, use the larger and more complicated 

 machines, the Prieto, Villamore, Weicher, Death & Ellwood, &c. 



The planters if using one of the large machines, keep several of the Raspadors in reserve for use 

 in case of accidents ; for should the large machine break down or get out of order, leaving seventy or 

 eighty thousand leaves on hand, and there be no means of cleaning them, it would involve a loss of 

 over 4,000 lbs. of fibre. 



Cleaning Machines. — The Raspador is & fifty-four inch "wheel" said to be invented and manu- 

 factured in Mexico. It requires a two horse power engine to run it at a steady rate of two hundred 

 revolutions per minute, at which speed the best results are obtained. Capacity 500 lbs. dry fibre per 

 day of ten hours : requires the services of two men. 



The Barraclough, constructed by T. Barraclough & Co., Manchester, England, is similar to the 

 Raspador but of superior make. Capacity 500 to 600 lbs. dry fibre daily. 



The Prieto machine is manufactured by Ping & Negre, Barcelona Spain ; requires a 16 horse 

 power engine, and the ^services of two men and a boy. Capacity 7,000 lbs. dry fibre per day of ten 

 hours. Cost $4,500. 



The Villamore machine, made by Krajewski & Pesant, 35 Broadway, New Fork, requires a 15 

 horse power engine, and the services of two men and a boy. Capacity 6,000 lbs. fibre per day of ten 

 hours. Frame made of wood. Cost $500. 



The Weicher machine, constructed by J. J. Weicher, 108 Liberty Street, New York, is fitted with 

 a service pipe for throwing a stream of water on the fibre as it is being cleaned, and is claimed by the 

 inventor to lose but l^o/o only, as the leaves are fed into the machine endwise. Requires 12 horse 

 power engine and services of 3 men. Capacity 2,500 lbs. dry fibre per day of ten hours. 



The Death 8f Ellwood machine, constructed by W. E. Death, of Braxton, England, requires a 3 

 horse power engine to drive it at a velocity of 400 revolutions per minute and washes the fibre when 

 cleaning. Like the "Weicher" the leaves are fed into the machine endwise. Capacity 250 lbs. of dry 

 fibre per day of ten hours. 



With the expection of the Raspador and Barraclough all the other machines are automatic; they 

 rasp the pulp from the fibre on the same principle as the Raspador. Their wheels being smaller, re- 

 quire a velocity of 500 revolutions to the minute to give good results. Beyond cleaning a greater 

 number of leaves, they do not appear to do better work as the percentage of loss is as great in the one aa 

 the other, and the fibre is equally as clean. 



Engines and Boilers. — The engines used were from 6 to 80 horsepower, manufactured by Marshal 

 & Son, London ; Appleby Bros., London ; Fawcett & Preston, Liverpool ; Watts, Campbell & Co. 

 Newark, N. J. ; H. M. Sciple, Corner 3rd and Arch Street, Philadelphia. 



The estates running 60 to 80 horse power engines have two boilers, using them alternately every 

 15 days. 



Press. — Most of the small estates use small screw presses, baling from 3 to 8 bales daily. The 

 large estates baling 16 to 30 bales daily, use hydraulic presses, constructed by Appleby Bros., London ; 

 and Fawcett & Preston, Liverpool. 



Locomotive, tramway rails, fyc. — The Locomotive cars are made of wood, 20 feet by 4 feet. The 

 rails are of iron with guage 3 feet, and sleepers of wood 2 feet apart. 



Tramway trucks are of iron or wood ; they are 12 feet by 3 feet. Rails and sleepers of iron with 

 guage 2 feet 4 inches, and sleepers 2 feet apart. 



Locomotives and tram care with rails are manufactured by Charles Wood, Trees Iron Works, 

 Middlesborough, England. 



Cultivation of the Agaves. 

 The Estates. Preparing the Fields. Planting. 



The Estates— -There are 200 Henequen estates in Yucatan, varying from 500 to 28,000 acres in 

 extent, having a total number of 105,000 acres under cultivation, employing 12,000 Indian labourers. 



The largest and best estates are on the rocky, gravelly lands, and they are valued from $100,000 

 to $500,000 each. Each estate is managed by 3 principal men: the Attorney, the Manager, and As- 

 sistant Manager. The largest of them employ locomotives for hauling in the crop from the fields ; 

 others using tramway trucks or carts drawn by mules or oxen. 



Estates with less than 800 acres under cultivation, erect one Raspador, for every 100 acres. Those 

 of 1,000 acres use the large automatio machines. 



