582 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[March  i,  1893. 
PRICES  OF  CEYLON  TEA  IN  LONDON: 
AVERAGES  FOR  EACH  MONTH  OF  8 YEARS. 
The  following  table  will,  in  the  first  place,  make 
our  tea  planters  of  the  present  day,  think  of  the 
good  times  there  were  in  1885-7  when  the  Ceylon 
average  was  so  oonstantly  above  the  shilling.  The 
maximum  in  any  one  month  was  reached  in 
October  1885  with  an  average  of  Is  4Jd.  Of 
course  the  quantity  of  Ceylon  tea  then  on  offer 
was  limited.  The  monthly  minimum  in  our 
table  was  recorded  at  8jd  in  July  last  year. 
May  that  depression  not  be  experienced  again  for  a 
long  time  if  ever.  The  special  practical  lesson  to 
be  derived  from  our  table  is  the  constancy  with 
which  the  middle  of  eaoh  year  sees  the  lowest 
prices.  July  is  the  black  month  for  Ceylon  tea 
in  five  out  of  eight  years  as  we  may  say,  and  June  or 
August  comes  next.  In  the  same  way  October 
usually  sees  the  best  prices  : it  is  so,  according  to 
our  table  in  five  out  of  eight  years,  November 
and  February  sharing  the  pre-eminence  in  other 
years.  Our  table  will  be  of  interest,  and  it  may 
prove  of  some  practical  service  to  our  tea  planting 
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SISAL- HEMP  INDUSTRY  IN  YUCATAN. 
In  accordance  with  instructions  received  from  Sir 
Ambrose  Shea,  Governor  of  the  Bahamas,  Captain 
E.  Jerome  Stuart,  the  resident  Justice  of  Long  island, 
has  recently  visited  Yucatan  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
paring the  soil  of  the  Bahamas  and  its  adaptability 
to  the  fibre  industry  with  the  soil  of  that  State  : to 
find  out  the  different  species  of  agaves  planted,  and 
their  liability  to  disease  ; the  character  of  the  machi- 
nery used  for  extracting  the  henequen  fibre  and  the 
cultivation  and  general  management  of  the  crop. 
In  his  report,  which  is  published  by  the  Keio  Gardens. 
Bulletin  for  November,  Captain  Stuart  submits  the 
following  information : — 
There  are  several  species  of  agaves  to  be  found 
in  Yucatan,  but  two  only  are  of  chief  commercial 
value. 
The  Henequen.— The  kind  of  fibre  plant  growing 
in  Yucatan,  and  known  as  the  sacqui  or  henequen 
is  a different  and  distinct  agave  from  that  of  the 
Bahama  hemp. 
The  plant  is  hardy,  and  has,  when  cultivated,  an 
average  life  of  18  years ; and  propagates  itself  by 
sending  out  “suckers”  from  its  roots. 
The  henequen  (Agave,  ngida  var.  dongata)  requires 
from  five  to  eight  years’  growth  to  produce  a 
marketable  length  (3  ft.)  of  fibre.  The  leaf  from 
which  the  fibre  is  extracted  has  a thorn  at  the 
point,  and  spines  on  its  edges,  and  averages  3J  ft. 
in  length. 
The  fibre  of  the  plant  is  white,  but  being  inferior 
to  that  of  the  Bahama  hemp  is  rated  in  the  market 
at  from  6/.  to  8?.  per  ton  lower. 
. The  Bahama  Hemp—  The  Bahama  hemp  (Agave 
rigida  var.  sisalana)  differs  from  the  henequen  in- 
asmuch as  the  leaves  are  without  spines  on  their  edges  j 
and  the  fibre  is  superior  in  texture.  The  plant 
matures  from  two  to  three  years  earlier  than  the 
henequen,  and  has  an  average  life  of  12  years.  Like 
the  henequen  it  propagates  itself  from  suckers,  but 
is  also  capable  of  producing  over  2,000  plants  from 
the  pole  that  grows  from  the  centre  of  the  plant. 
The  Bahama  hemp  is  found  both  in  Yucatan, 
where  it  is  known  as  the  yaxqui,  and  in  Cuba,  but 
it  is  not  largely  cultivated,  as  it  requires  a more 
congenial  climate  than  these  countries  afford.  In 
this  colony  the  plant  luxuriates,  the  length  of  leaf 
being  ft.  to  5 ft.,  weighing  1J  lb.  to  2 lb.  In 
Yucatan  a leaf  of  the  yaxqui  from'  a plant  of  the 
same  age  would  measure  3j  ft.,  and  weigh  11  oz.  only. 
The  henequen  and  Bahama  hemp  are  the  hardest 
of  all  the  agaves.  Their  power  to  withstand  drought 
is  almost  incredible.  I have  known  plants  of  the 
Bahama  hemp  to  lie  on  the  ground  for  three  months, 
exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  when  planted 
to  grow  with  the  greatest  vigor. 
It  has  never  been  known  for  those  plants  to  be 
troubled  with  any  organic  disease.  No  fungus  or  insect 
can  apparently  damage  or  affect  them  ; and  in  1883, 
when  the  locust  devastated  the  State  of  Yucatan, 
the  cattle  and  birds  died  of  starvation,  and  men 
were  on  the  eve  of  despair,  the  only  green  living 
plants  to  be  seen  were  the  different  species  of  agaves, 
and  they  are  now  looked  upon  as  the  salvation  of 
the  State. 
I walked  through  hundreds  of  acres  of  the  hene- 
quen, but  beyond  noticing  that  a leaf  here  and  there 
had  a few  inches  dried  on  its  end,  similar  to  what 
is  seen  in  this  colony  and  Cuba  the  plants  were 
perfectly  healthy  and  free  from  disease. 
There  are  several  kinds  of  machinery  used  for 
extracting  the  fibre  on  the  different  estates. 
Those  cleaning  less  than  75,000  leaves  per  day  use 
the  large  common  wheels,  Raspador  and  Barraclough  ; 
and  those  cleaning  from  80,000  to  120,000  per  day 
use  the  larger  and  more  complicated  machines,  the 
Prieto,  Villamore,  Weicher,  Death  and  Ellwood,  &c. 
The  planters,  if  using  one  of  the  large  machines, 
keep  several  of  the  Raspadors  in  reserve  for  use  in 
case  of  accidents  ; for  should  the  large  machine  break 
down  or  get  out  of  order,  leaving  70,000  or  80,000 
leaves  on  hand,  and  there  be  no  means  of  cleaning 
them,  it  would  involve  a loss  of  over  4,000  lb.  of  fibre. 
Cleaning  Machines. — The  Jiaspador  is  a 54-inch 
“ wheel,”  said  to  be  invented  and  manufactured  in 
Mexico.  It  requires  a two-horse  power  engine  to  run 
it  at  a steady  rate  of  200  revolutions  per  minute, 
at  which  speed  the  best  results  are  obtained.  Capa- 
city 500  lb.  dry  fibre  per  day  of  10  hours  requires 
the  services  of  two  men. 
The  Barraclough,  constructed  by  T.  Barraclough  & 
Co.,  Manchester,  England,  is  similar  to  the  Raspador, 
but  of  superior  make.  Capacity  500  to  600  lb.  dry 
fibre  daily. 
The  Prieto  machine  is  manufactured  by  Ping  and 
Negre,  Barcelona,  Spain ; requires  a J.6-liorse  ppwer 
