igo THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September 2, 1889 
(2) 5 leaves of Madagascar aloes 7 feet long 
weighing 24 lb. gave 0-49 lb., that is 9-80 lb. for 100 
leaves, but only 2 03 lb. for 100 lb. 
At Mont Choisy in the maohines of M. Cazotet I 
passed 25 leaves weighing 42 lb. which gave 1-28 lb. 
of dry fibre, that is 5'12 per 100 leaves and 3-05 per 
100 lb. The present average of M. Cazotet with the 
new maohines is from 3i to 3§ lb. per 100 leaves. 
At La Kiviere Noire, with Trouchet, it is lower, but 
the deficit must be attributed to the small leaves 
and perhaps also to the lack of experience of the 
men, who have not yet acquired the knaok of serving 
the new machines. Lastly, with M. Bonieux, at 
Tombeau, thty have arrived at 4'16 lb. per 100 
leaves for the average work of a week. 
You see, these numbers are infinitely superior to 
anything we have obtained till now, since they re- 
present an average of 3 to 3$ lb. of dry fibre per 100 
leaves, whilst with the old machines scarcely 2 per 
cent, or by the most favoured 2J, was reached. 
Who then, after all, you will say, is the happy 
inventor of the new process ? I touch here, gentle- 
man, upon a delicate subject, and would not say 
anything before you of which I was not absolutely 
certain, as these remarks may perhaps see the 
light of publicity. My impression, however, is that 
it is a collective work of which no one can claim the 
paternity. Several have put their hands to it and have 
modified it, often with advantage. Here, besides, is 
what I have been able to gather on this point; I give 
it with all reserve, and am ready to make honourable 
amends if I should inflict injury on any interests. 
When the Government published the notice which 
you are aware of, and by which it offered a prize of 
R2,500 for the best machine for extracting fibre 
from aloes, the committee, of which I had the honour 
to form a part, found itself in the presence of three 
maohines none of which combined the conditions of 
the prize. The first, the Marabal machine, did not 
complete the leaf ; there remained a "heel," which 
necessitated the employment of a head-splitter. 
The second, invented by M. Vige, was not finished, 
and has never, to my knowledge, worked in a satis- 
factory manner, although it possessed some grand 
qualities. The principle sought by M. Vige may be 
some day revived with advantage. 
Finally, the third by M. Digard, made at the 
premises of M. P. d'Unienville, and with his help, 
has never been worked either. It took the leaf by 
its point like its predecessors, and has been 
patented. M. Digard, having left for Natal, handed 
it over to Messieurs Bax and Perdreau who had, 
it seems, advanced the funds, and who delivered 
it to M. Cazotet. The latter has modified it, has 
preserved its barrel, and originated the idea of 
causing the leaf to pass heel first. However, this 
prooess is discovered in the Marabal machine, so 
that its paternity could not even be attributed to 
M. Cazotet, although the considerable part whioh is 
due to him in the application of the new prooess 
cannot be disputed. This idea has been taken up by 
Messieurs Merandon and Bonieux, and still further 
modified by them in the form of the barrel, the 
number of scrapers, and above all in the servante, 
which, as you have seen, plays an important part 
in the scraping of the leaf. 
VI. A writer of talent, gentlemen, known and 
appreciated, Dr. J. Forbes Royle, has devoted to the 
aloes a chapter of his remarkable work on the textile 
plants of India.* 
I must renounoe the pleasure of transcribing it in 
its entirety, however much interest it may otherwise 
present, and I limit myself to extracting the follow- 
ing passages from it : — 
* J. Forbes Royle, m.d. : " Tho fibrous plants of India, 
fitted for cordage, clothing and paper," page 43. London • 
6mi*h, Elder & Oo„ 1855. 
" The agave is originally an inhabitant of America, 
but it is so widely diffused over the surface of the 
globe, that it appears to be indigenous to Africa, 
India, and the south of Spain. The agave, to which 
the name of American Aloe is so often given, re- 
sembles the aloe by its sword-like leaf ; it has parallel 
veins, and attains a length of 8 to 10 feet from the 
stem to the point : it terminates in a strong thorn. 
It is this which renders this plant so useful for 
hedges and enclosures, and so sought after for this 
purpose in Italy and Sicily. It is completely 
developed at the end of three years, but does not 
flower before eight and sometimes twenty years. At 
this period they throw up a candelabra-like stalk. It 
is doubtless this peculiarity which has given birth 
to the fable that has been invented that these plants 
only flower onoe in a hundred years. It is in the 
leaves of this plant that the fibre is found. It is 
exceedingly long and tough, and cordage of great 
value is made from it. The juice, whioh flows from 
it, is sometimes, according to Long, substituted for 
soap. 
" The fibres of these agaves are sometimes con- 
verted into ropes in Mexico, and these ropes often 
serve in the mines and on board vessels. Humboldt 
has given a description of a bridge over the river 
Chambo at Quito, 131 feet long, of which the 
main ropes, 4 inches in diameter, were made of 
the fibres of aloes. It is reported that in the West 
Indies the negroes make ropes, fishing nets and 
hammooks with the aloe fibre. The fibre is pre- 
pared as follows : — First the longest leaves of the 
plant are cut off, and then they are eoraped with a 
bar of iron, which is held in both hands, till all 
the juice and pulp are expressed and only the fibre 
remains. Stedman says that the fibre resembles 
silk, and that the ropes made with it are con- 
sidered in England as good as any others whatsoever, 
but that, however, they rot more quickly in water. 
"In Portugal this fibre is called ' filo de pita,' and 
is applied to several purposes. In Spain it is also 
called 'pita,' and as the plant abounds in that 
country, ropes of all dimensions on a large scale have 
been made from it. 
" The fibre and the rope of ' pita ' are in the 
south of Spain, the object of a pretty large trade, but 
we muat not deduce from this that the sources of a 
manufacture exist there, for all of it is done by 
hand. M. Bamon de la Sagra recommends the intro- 
duction of newspeoies from Guatemala and Columbia, 
where they are known under the name of 'Cabu'la ' 
and ' Cocaiza.' There are species of ' fourcroya ' 
whioh also give excellent fibres, The ' fourcroya 
gigantea ' is common at St. Helena, and has been 
introduced into Madras. The island of Madeira sent 
fibres of 'pita' to the Exhibition of 1851 ; we have 
had some aloes from the Barbadoes and Demerara, 
Mexioo has sent yarn and paper made from the 
Agave Americana. 
" The name of ' pita ' seems also to have been 
given to similar fibres obtained from the Bromelia 
and Yucca, as well as from the Agave, according to 
Dr. Hamilton of Plymouth, and it is probable that 
this has been the oase beoause th^y greatly resemble 
each other. Dr. Hamilton says also that this fibre 
is a sixth less heavy than hemp ; this faot has im- 
portance and significance for vessels ; he considers 
it also more tough and durable than hemp, and 
prefers it for cables, fishing-nets, <fec , because of 
the faoility with which it stands moisture. In an 
experiment that was made by H. M. Ship ' Port- 
land,' a log-line 300 feet long of ' pita ' fibre 
only shrank 16 feet, whilst a hamper rope of the 
same length shrank 21 T * 5 feet ; moreover the con- 
traction of the ' pita ' ceased on the third day, whilst 
that of the hempen rope lasted all the tim«. The 
two ropes were deposited in the stores at Ply- 
mouth Pookyard." 
