April 1908.] 



329 



Fibres. 



As to a market for the fibre, there is a 

 large demand for it in the United States, 

 Europe, and the Southern States of the 

 Commonwealth. Japan also promises to 

 be a good market. There is also evidence 

 that the market price has increased in 

 proportion to the increased production, 

 so that it is highly improbable that this 

 generation, at least, will see any great 

 diminution in prices. 



The question as to the area of a planta- 

 tion which will give the best returns is 

 best answered by saying that the larger 

 the area the greater the profit. A 

 plantation of 500 acres is to be preferred 

 to one of 100 acres. This fact, need not, 

 however, deter any one from planting a 

 small portion of his farm with sisal, 

 provided he is in the close neighbour- 

 hood of a plantation where large machin- 

 ery is in operation. For instance, a 

 man plants 20 acres of sisal. This should 

 return 10 tons of fibre, worth, say, £350. 

 He may either sell the leaves to the 

 neighbouring factory, or could have 

 them worked up at a reasonable price. 

 The weight of leaves to produce 10 tons 

 of fibre would be from 250 to 300 tons, 

 This would seem a great quantity to 

 remove, but if we compare it with the 

 tonnage of sugar-cane from 20 acres, we 

 see that a heavy crop of 30 tons of cane 

 per acre would amount to 600 tons. On 

 the other hand, the 600 tons of cane are 

 worth from £300 to £600, or £15 to £30 

 per acre, less expenses for cutting and 

 loading at 3s. to 4s. per ton, whereas 300 

 tons of sisal leaves, although producing 

 fibre worth £350, would, deducting 50% 

 for all axpenses, be worth about £175, or 

 about £8 15s. per acre. But a farmer, 

 with two sons old enough for field work, 

 could take off the crop himself with a 

 Raspador, which would turn out from 

 60 to 100 lb. of fibre a day, the cost of 

 labour being retained in the family. It 

 used to be said that only large sugar 

 plantations would pay, but when the 

 large plantations are cut up into small 

 farms, and the central mills are es- 

 tablished, it was found that the small 

 cane farmers could make a very comfort- 

 able living by selling the cane to those 

 mills, and it will probably be found that 

 the same result will happen in the case 

 of the sisal hemp industry. Many 

 farmers in the United States are said 

 to add from £100 to £300 per annum to 

 their incomes by planting the waste 

 portions of their land with sisal. I do not 

 know what facilities they have for 

 turning out the fibre or selling the leaves, 

 but the fact remains that they derive 

 considerable profit from the industry. 



f With respect to the merits and com- 

 mercial value of the Fourcroya gigantia, 

 as compared with sisal, it has already 

 42 



been explained that Fourcroya fibre— 

 that is, Mauritius hemp,— is not so 

 valuable as sisal fibre. Still, if sisal 

 plants are not obtainable, there is no 

 reason why the Fourcroya should not be 

 planted. The yield of fibre is large, and 

 the leaves grow to a greater length and 

 are heavier than sisal leaves. On the 

 other hand, the fibre is finer and weaker, 

 and does not possess the lustre of the 

 sisal fibre. There is, however, a good 

 and constant market for it, and to-day 

 (June, 1906) it is quoted in British price 

 lists at £34 per ton. 



Short Directions fob Planting Sisal 

 Hemp and Extrcting the Fibre. 



1. Lay out the ground with a 12-foot 

 roadway between every 8 rows. 



2. Put in the plants in holes 8 feet 

 apart every way. 



3. Plant them perfectly upright. 



4. There is no need to plough up the 

 whole ground. When any tall grass or 

 bushes grow between the rows, cut them 

 down every three or four months. The 

 plants must have no &hade. 



5. Plants produce better fibre in 

 unploughed than in ploughed ground. 



6. Take off any dead leaves from the 

 plants before putting in. Treat them 

 like pineapple plants. 



7. When planting, allow no soil to 

 fall between the leaves, or the plant 

 will rot. 



8. In very dry weather give each 

 plant, when planting out, a pint of water. 

 They will take root in a weak, and after 

 that will defy dry weather. 



9. In old sisal hemp countries suckers 

 and bulbils are put out in nursery. 

 There is no need for this. Put the young 

 plant in its permanent place. Why 

 should you have the labour and expense 

 of two plantings ? They come on as well 

 in their permanent places as in a nursery. 



10. Do not plant in low or wet ground 

 Dry ridges suit the plants best. 



11. When plants are three years old, 

 a first crop of 8 or 10 leaves per plant 

 may be cut. In four years a full crop of 

 20 leaves may be cut. 



12. The yield of fibre is 4 per cent, of 

 the weight of leaf. A 4 lb. leaf will give 

 1| to If oz. of fibre. 



13. If the leaves are regularly cut, 

 the plants will not send up a pole for 

 from 10 to 15 years. When a plant poles 

 the 200 leaves still left will be lost. But 

 if the pole, at its first appearance, is cut, 

 the plant will live twelve months longer, 

 and all the leaves will be saved. 



