The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



SISAL FIBRE. 



Brisbane, Nov. 16th, 1907. 

 Dear Sir, — With reference to sisal fibre cul- 

 tivation, 1 send you my pamphlet on the "Sisal 

 Industry." I have studied out the matter both 

 in S. America and in this country, and have a 

 plantation here which is thriving well and will 

 be ready in another year to commence opera- 

 tions on. The pamphlet has been well received 

 in Mexico, where it was reproduced in the 

 Mexican Investor (January 19th and '26th, 1907). 

 Perhaps you may find something worth noting 

 in it. — Yours faithfully, 



A. J. BOYD, 

 Editor, Queensland Agricultural Journal. 

 [We are much obliged to Mr. Boyd for a copy 

 of his instructive and well-illustrated pam- 

 phlet entitled : — 



The Sisal Fibre Industry in Queensland, with Notes on 

 Mauritius Hemp, Murva. and the Mexican Zapupe Fibre, 

 by A. J. Boyd, Department of Agriculture and Stock. 

 1st August, ia06. 



Simultaneously we have received a copy of a 

 Special Report by Commissioner F. H. Watkins 

 " Upon the Caicos Islands, with special re- 

 ference to the further development of the Sisal 

 Industry," dated June last. It is worthwhile 

 giving the conclusion of Mr. Watkins - ' report : — 

 General Conclusions. 



Before embarking on any industry it is well to study 

 carefully all the circumstances connected therewith, and 

 to weigh the probable chances of success or failure. In 

 the sisal industry there exist three essential conditions 

 necessary to arrive at profitable results, namely : — 



(1) Capital, on account of the somewhat expensive 

 machinery for extracting the fibre, and the length of time 

 which must elapse before a return is made for the expen- 

 diture of several years. 



(2) A lar^e area of land, especially where the soil is 

 poor, to maintain the cultivation in regular succession. 



(3) An abundant and cheap supply of labour. 



The last two conditions can be fulfilled in the Caicos 

 Islands ; capital has to be introduced. 



It may not be out of place to consider, briefly, and sum- 

 marise what may be regarded as the advantages and dis- 

 advantages associated with the industry. 



Advantages. 



(1) Land may be purchased cheaply or obtained at a 

 nominal rent, 4d per acre, in the Caicos Islands. 



(2) The experience which, in the initial stages of all 

 undertakings, has to be purchased by inevitable mistakes 

 at considerable cost, is now available, 



(3) It may be thought that, if more fibre is produced in 

 these islands, the prices may fall, but it is improbable that 

 the largest possible output of the Bahamas and of the 

 Caicos Islands would ever be sufficient to exert an appre- 

 ciable effect on the question of supply and demand in the 

 fibre market. On the cont rary, it is important that the 

 export of fibre from the Bahamas and these islands should 

 be increased to justify a separate name {e.g., as Sea Island 

 in the case of cotton) to distinguish it from that produced 

 in Yucatan. At present, the price of the fibre exported 

 from these islands is, in spite of its superiority, governed 

 largely by that obtained for tho inferior qualities made in 

 Mexico. 



(4) The universal usefulness of, and the enormous and 

 continuous demand for, sisal, preclude the possibility of 

 overproduction. In 1905, the total export of sisal from 

 Mexico amounted to 597,1-89 bales, weighing 212,375,231 lb, 

 of the value of 890,625,431) (Mexican). 



(5) When once the industry is firmly established and the 

 initial stages passed, remunerative prices are always 

 obtained lor sisal properly extracted and graded. As an 

 index of what returns may be expected, the figures of the 

 lasVIS years, given belovvj nifty be instructive 



(1) Lowest price obtained, 2§ cents per lb, equal to 

 £12 5s per ton. 



(2) highest price obtained, Si cents per lb, equal to 

 £39 13s id per ton. 



(3) Average pi ice, 6 cents per lb, equal to £28 per ton. 



(4) I resent price, pi cents per lb, equal to £321s gdper ton 

 A rough estimate of the cost of production, exclusive of 



purchase or rent of land, machinery, freight, supplies, com- 

 mission, and interest, but inclusive of local salaries and 

 wages, may be piaced at £7 to £10 a ton. 



(0) The unconquerable vitality of the plant and the fact 

 that the fibre, when extracted, does not deteriorate by 

 lengthy storage, are important matters for consideration. 



(7) As it is improbable that the sisal plant would thrive 

 within a "frost-visited" region, the possible area of culti- 

 vation is limited, and, as has already been indicated, the 

 plant requires a peculiar soil for its most favourable and 

 profitable growth. 



(5) Looking at the industry from .an official standpoint, 

 its development would put to profitable use large tracts of 

 land unsuitable for any other cultivation, and would afford, 

 on a large scale, employment to many who, even now, have 

 often-times the alternative between starvation and 

 emigration. 



Disadvantages. 



(1) Chief among the drawbacks attached to sisal cultiva- 

 tion is the slow return for the outlay, because four or five 

 years have to elapse after planting before the fibre can be 

 placed on the market. 



(2) The soil suitable for sisal is such as to preclude the 

 possibility of catch and rotation crops, and theie are no 

 by-products to aid in meeting the expenditure of tha long 

 years in the early stages 



(3) The isolated life and peculiar conditions of the 

 Caicos Islands are not likely to prove attractive to those 

 desirous of settling and managing their own properties. It 

 is far more satisfactory and economical to place in charge 

 men acquainted with local conditions and the habits and 

 character of the native labourer than to send out as 

 managers men who, however well qualified they may be to 

 supervise machinery, are ignorant of the elements of tropi- 

 cal agriculture. Unaccustomed to the climate, food, and 

 people, the new-comers, although receiving double the 

 salary given to a man born in the place, speedily grow 

 dissatisfied, and the chances oi success are hampered by 

 constant changes in the management and by the pet 

 schemes and experiments of each new manager. 



Conclusion. 



When the survey of the Caicos Islands is complete and 

 the extent of the Crown lands determined, it will bo 

 worthy of consideration to take measures for extending 

 this important industry, which offers great possibility to 

 the labouring population of the Dependency, and seems to 

 assure large and certain profits to capitalists content to 

 await patiently their returns and to allow the cultivation 

 to be conducted on sound and economical principles. 

 — Eu. CO.] 



COQUI LHO NUTS. 



H. M. Consul at Bahia reports that co. 

 quilho-nuts are exported from Bahia in steadily 

 increasing quantity yearly. The nuts average 

 in size something larger than a hen's egg. 

 and consist of a central kernel embedded in 

 an extremely hard pulp. The kernel yields 

 an oil of very fine quality, which is used 

 locally as a lubricant for watches and for other 

 delicate mechanisms. The chief value of the 

 nuts, however, would seem to lie in the pulp 

 surrounding the kernel. Out of that pulp are 

 manufactured buttons of all kinds, also a con- 

 siderable proportion of the rosarios used 

 throughout the world by both Christians and 

 Mohammedans. Most of the coquilho-nuts 

 exported from Bahia go to France, where the 

 pulp is utilised in the manner stated. The 

 exports in 190b amounted to 47,883 kilos., 

 becng an increase of 6,080 kilos, over 1905.— 

 Chemist and Duggisi, Dec. Li, 



