September 2, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
149 
it to approach the wheel so that the scrapers, 
still revolving with the rapidity we have mentioned, 
take off what remains of the unscraped portion of 
the leaf, that is to say the " heel." 
Well, gentlemen, this was the weak side of the 
industry till lately. It does not enter into my plans 
to reply in advance to all the objections that might be 
brought forward as to the defects of such a 
machine. It was simply ruinous as much by the force 
it exercised as by the violence with which it worked. 
If the scratcher caused little waste the "head- 
splitter " on the other hand was defeotive in a 
grievous manner. Only, nothing else was found, and 
it was not known how to replace it. But why was the 
head-splitter so defective ? It is not only because it 
exercised an excessive force which betrayed itself in 
an enormous consumption of fuel, seeing that it 
performed the work of a drag every time it was in 
motion, but also because it carried away a consider- 
able portion of the fibres already scraped, which, 
not being attached to the hook on account of their 
shorter length, could not resist the tug and ran off 
with the refuse. Now, to understand why all the 
fibres oould not have been fastened to the hook 
which overhangs the half-opened socket of the head- 
splitter, it is needful that we should know how the 
leaf of the aloe is formed not only to put ourselves 
in possession of the causes of waste, but to get the 
key to the progress that has been realized. 
IV. The aloe, gentlemen, of which all the varieties 
which grow spontaneously in our soil are- not uni- 
formly profitable to our industry, the aloe is essen- 
tially composed of a stem around which group them- 
selves spirally leaves varying in length from 3 to 7 
feet to keep within the average. When these leaves 
examined carefully, it is seen that the part which 
adjoins the stem is the thickest, heaviest, and most 
fleshy part. The point terminates in a strong thorn. 
All the fibres necessarily start from the stem, but 
do not all end at the terminal point, as can be ascer- 
tained by tearing a leaf lengthwise. Those of the 
middle alone reach it; those of the sides stop mid- 
way. It follows that when an aloe leaf is cut at a 
certain distance from the stem, this distance vary- 
ing from 6 inches to a foot, all the fibres have been 
cut at a similar point. If now we suppose that it is 
this end which will be scraped first, we shall be sure 
of seizing all the fibres at their starting point when 
the leaf has to be turned round to subject it to the 
second scraping. But, gentlemen, this was not how 
it was done. If you remember the leaf was presented 
to the machine by its terminal point first ; then, 
when it was three-quarters scraped, it wa3 turne t 
round to present the heel to the head-splitter. In 
this second operation the longest fibres alone are 
retained on the hook ; the reBt are dragged away by 
the rapidity of the rotation of the wheel and are 
lost, so that the result of this second operation will 
have been, it is true, to scrape a heel of 6 inches 
or a foot in length, but will have been at the same 
time to destroy a part of the work done by the first 
machine, in snatching away some of the fibres al- 
ready made by it beoause they were not long enough 
to be retained on the hook. 
It is upon this important point that the improve- 
ment of which I have to speak to you has taken 
place. This does not consist solely but principally 
in the suppression of the "head-splitter," and its 
originality lies in its scraping the " heel " of the 
leaf before scraping the "point." 
I have told you that the process did not consist 
solely in the fact of enuring the heel to pass before 
the point. Fn truth, the servantc plays a con- 
siderable part in the progreES which has been 
realized ; its regulation, the new shapo that has been 
given to it, the new mateiials of which it is made, 
constitute so many perfections which have to be 
added to the mode of presenting the leaf, and con 
tribute to increase the returns. 
I have thought, gentlemen, that the Chamber could 
not remain indifferent or strangers to all that has 
been accomplished in this line of thought, and that 
it is its duty to direct and sustain the movement 
which has begun. An industry is about to be founded 
on solid bases, it is real, it may bring to the colonial 
treasury a considerable increase ; to develop itself 
it only asks for its support and a little publicity, 
that it may find in disposable capital that assistance 
to which it certainly has a right because that right 
is now based upon an incontestable success. 
V. It is generally admitted that aloe leaves give 
an average return of 2 per cent. Here we must ex- 
plain ourselves ; when we say 2 per cent we do not 
say 2 lb. of fibre for 100 lb. of leaf, but 2 lb. of fibre 
for ICO leaves, which is not quite the same thing. 
Whatever may be the defect in this calculation, it 
must be accepted as it is, for this is the way the 
manufacturers of fibres understand it, and because the 
leaves are more easily counted then weighed, and 
because, moreover, if the proportion of the weight of 
the fibre to the weight of the leaves were adopted, it 
would offer other inconveniences of which the least 
would proceed from the fleshy part, whioh yields a 
very different percentage according to the distance 
it is cut from the stem. I will not, therefore, insist 
any longer on this point but content myself with 
noting it, because it will serve as the basis of our 
comparisons. 
However I may desire to avoid speaking to you of 
what is personal to myself, yet I cannot forbear 
mentioning to you that during my three years of 
manufacture at Rouye Terre my proportion has 
constantly been below this 2 per cent. In 1878 it was 
1-76; in 1879 it whs 162 per 133 leaves, and 1-85 in 
1880, that is to say, I only succeeded in extracting 
from 100 leaves brought to my manufactory about 
If lb. of dry fibre fit to be packed. You will see 
with me that this result was ruinous ; consequently, 
I closed my factory and waited for better days. I have 
equally acquired the right, because I have asked him 
for it, of telling you the result obtained by my 
brother-in-law, Edward Trouchet, at La Biviere Noire 
during three years. He has been scarcely more 
fortunate than I, his average having been 1-97. I 
will not allow myself to speak to you of others, 
although I am led to think that the result resohed by 
them has not been much more favourable. I will 
make an exception, however, of my friend George 
Bourguicinon, who has reached, I am told, 2^ per 
cent. This result does honour to his management, 
and above all to his process of extraction. If you 
compare these figures, be they 2 or 2£ per cent, with 
those of the cane which rise to 9 and 10 per cent of 
its weight, you will ask yourselves how an industry 
can be maintained with such returns. To be frank, it 
is maintained with difficulty. For my part, I declare 
that if I had only obtained the 2£ per cent of my 
friend Bourguignon, I would not only have not closed 
my factory, but I would have made large enough 
profits to have never dreamt of doing so. 
But, gentlemen, it is not a question today of 2, 
nor even of 2* per cent. It is at least 50 per cent 
above that that must be counted upon, as I will try to 
prove directly. And you will admit with me, that if it 
was possible to live with 2 per cent and even less, 
one has a right to believe in success when this same 
leaf gives a minimum return of 3 per cent, often 
more, without an increase of expenditure, and on 
the contrary with a motive power infinitely less. 
Heie are some experiments made by me at Palmyre 
on the 13th September with the new apparatuses : — 
(1) 50 leaves of average size, 4 feet long, weigh- 
ing 5(ilb., gave of dry fibre 1-75 lb., that is 3-50 lb. 
for 100 leaves, or 3-12 lb. for 100 lb. 
