January, 1910.] 



19 



Fibres, 



eates that both Agave and Rhea require 

 good land for rapid growth. For the 

 latter also fairly heavy rainfall is 

 required. Although it is possible to 

 extract both Agave and lthea fibre by 

 hand, the products obtained are usually 

 inferior to those obtained by machinery, 

 Therefore possibly the cultivation of 

 these plants should, for some time, be 

 continued by capitalists who can afford 

 to pay for expensive fibre extractors. 

 Rhea has been extensively cultivated on 

 the estates of Indigo Planters in Behar, 

 but has not proved a profitable crop. 

 Both Agave and Rhea require some 

 years' growth before they give any con- 

 siderable yield of fibre, a fact which 

 discourages the ordinary ryot from at- 

 tempting their cultivation. 



The results of the recent experiments 

 at Dalsing Sarai and elsewhere have 

 been set forth excellently by Mr. B. 

 Coventry in the Agricultural Journal 

 .of India, 1907, pages 1-14; they practi- 

 cally proved that the climate of Behar, 

 with a rainfall of 45 inches, is too dry to 

 admit of a sufficient number of cuttings 

 being made per annum to make rhea 

 pay. This crop thrives in the moist cli- 

 mate of Assam, where it is possible to 

 obtain five cuttings per annum, and 

 where, to a small extent, it is a ryots' 

 crop. In Madras, rhea is grown on a 

 small scale in the Shevaroys. The Glen- 

 rock Company opened a rhea planta- 

 tion near Metupalayam in the Coimba- 

 tore District 25 years ago, but did not 

 make a profit out of the cultivation. 



In Bombay, where rhea has been 

 under experimental trials for many 

 years, further recent experiments with 

 it at the Ganeshkhind Gardens, Kirkee, 

 have confirmed the conclusion that the 

 soil and climate of the Deccan are un- 

 suitable for the plant, It is said that 

 in Lower Burma, a variety of rhea 

 grows wild on the banks of streams in 

 the Tharrawady District, along the 

 foot of the Pegu Yoma range, and that 

 the fibre is used to make twine for 

 fishing lines. Experimental plantations 

 of B. nivea and B. tenacissima have been 

 started by the Forest Officer in Tharra- 

 wady, who reports that the latter species 

 is growing with success. Rhea grows 

 wild both in the Northern and Southern 

 Shan States. The fibre is chiefly used 

 for making paper, but is also made into 

 cloth and strong twine for fishing lines, 

 etc. Two varieties of the plant are 

 known, one being considered better 

 than the other for the above purposes. 



Varieties of Agave are to be found in 

 most parts of India under widely 

 different conditions of climate and soil ; 



but Sisal Hemp (Agave sisalana) is the 

 only variety with which systematic 

 attempts at cultivation have been made 

 excepting by the prison authorities. 

 Sisal Hemp yields the largest and 

 quickest returns under careful culti- 

 vation on good land in a moist climate ; 

 but only one plantation (Dauracherra 

 Fibre Company, Sylhet, Assam) has 

 existed long enough to yield definite 

 results, and these do not prove that 

 Agave cultivation in Assam is certain 

 to be a profitable industry. A few 

 plantations of Agave exist in the United 

 Provinces, but have hardly reached the 

 cutting stage. The raw material which 

 is at present dealt with is chiefly obtain- 

 ed from railway fences taken on lease. 

 The only place in the Madras Presidency 

 where Agave fibre has been extracted 

 on a commercial scale is in the Coim- 

 batore District from the plants growing 

 along the railway lines. This species 

 proves to be Agave vera-crus. Several 

 European planters are trying Sisal in 

 the planting districts, and tlie Madras 

 Fibre Company has some plantations 

 in the Anantpur and Chingleput Dis- 

 tricts. The cultivation of Agave is not 

 likely to be taken up in the near future 

 by ordinary ryots. The extraction of 

 the fibre by hand is unpleasant on ac- 

 count of skin irritation caused by the 

 sap. The chief purpose of the Hindu- 

 pur Government plantation is to grow 

 Agave experimentally on land where 

 the rainfall is too piecarious for other 

 crops. It is also intended to supply 

 Sisal plants to those who are interested 

 in the cultivation of this plant. Agave 

 has been but little exploited in the 

 Central Provinces, and the cultivation 

 is not likely to become popular. The 

 common species there is Agave cantata. 

 It is usually grown in hedges, around 

 groves and gardens, but nowhere in 

 abundance. Fibre is not extracted from 

 it extensively. In the Kawardha Feuda- 

 tory State adjoining Bilaspur, its culti- 

 vation is fairly large and the fibre is 

 used in making ropes and cloth. The 

 labour involved in extracting the fibre 

 is considered both hard and degrading, 

 while the juice of leaves produces 

 eczema on the legs and arms of the 

 labourers. Agave cultivation has been 

 extended of late at the jails in the Cen- 

 tral provinces, and the Inspector-General 

 of Prisons had 87,459 aloes planted out 

 last year in his various gardens. At 

 these jails, all the work of cultivation, 

 of extracting the fibre and of making it 

 into rcpes, rugs, etc., is done by the 

 prisoners. This industry engages labour 

 at all times of the year. On the bhata 

 plains of Chhattisgarh where there are 

 very large areas of waste land, it may 



