March  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
583 
engine  and  the  services  of  two  men  and  a boy. 
Capacity  7,000  1b.  dry  fibre  per  day  of  10  hours. 
Cost  4,500  dols.  . 
The  Villamore  machine,  made  by  Karajewski  and 
Pesant,  35,  Broadway,  New  York;  requires  a 15-horse 
power  engine  and  the  services  of  two  men  and  a 
boy.  Capacity  6,000  lb.  fibre  per  day  of  10  hours. 
Frame  made  of  wood.  Cost  500  dols. 
The  Weicher  machine,  onstructedby  J.  J.  Weieher, 
108,  Liberty  Street,  New  York,  is  fitted  with  a service 
pipe  for  throwing  a stream  of  water  on  the  fibre  as 
it  is  being  cleaned,  and  is  claimed  by  the  inventor 
to  lose  but  1§  per  cent,  only,  as  the  leaves  are  fed 
into  the  machine  endwise.  Requires  12-horse  power 
engine  and  services  of  three  men.  Capacity  2,500  lb. 
dry  fibre  per  day  of  10  hours. 
The  Death  and  EUioood  machine,  constructed  by 
W.  E.  Death,  of  Brixton,  England,  requires  a 30- 
hoise  power  engine  to  drive  it  at  a velocity  of  40. 
revolutions  per  minute,  and  washes  the  fibre  when 
cleaning,  Like  the  “Weicher,”  the  leaves  are  fed  into 
the  machine  endwise. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Raspador  and  Barra- 
clough  all  the  other  machines  are  automatic  ; they 
rasp  the  pulp  from  the  fibre  on  the  same  principle 
as  the  Raspador.  Their  wheels  being  smaller,  re- 
quire a velocity  of  500  revolutions  to  the  minute  to 
give  good  results.  Beyond  cleaning  a greater  number 
of  leaves  they  do  not  appear  to  do  better  work,  as 
the  percentage  of  loss  is  as  great  in  the  one  as  the 
other,  and  the  fibre  is  equally  as  clean. 
Press. — Most  of  the  small  estates  use  screw  presses, 
baling  from  three  to  eight  bales  daily.  The  large 
estates,  baling  16  to  30  bales  daily,  use  hydraulic 
presses,  constructed  by  Appleby  Bros.,  London,  and 
Fawcett  and  j Preston,  Liverpool. 
The  Estates. — There  are  200  henequen  estates  in 
Yucatan,  varying  from  500  to  28,000  acres  in  extent, 
having  a total  number  of  105,000  acres  under  cultiva- 
tion, employing  12,000  Indian  labourers. 
The  largest  and  best  estates  are  on  the  rocky 
gravelly  lands,  and  they  are  valued  from  100,000 
dollars  to  500,000  dollars  each.  Each  estate  is 
managed  by  three  principal  men — the  attorney,  the 
Manager,  and  assistant  manager.  The  largest  of  them 
employ  locomotives  for  hauling  in  the  crop  from  the 
fields,  others  using  tramway  trucks  or  carts  drawn 
by  mules  or  oxen. 
Estates  with  less  than  8C0  acres  under  cultivation 
erect  one  Raspador  for  every  100  acres.  Those  of 
1,000  acres  use  the  large  automatic  machines. 
Preparing  the  Fields. — The  size  of  the  cultivations 
on  the  estates  range  from  250  to  3,500  acres.  They 
are  laid  out  in  fields  or  sections  of  50  to  200  acres, 
and  contain  from  600  to  900  plants  to  the  acre. 
When  preparing  the  fields  the  land  is  cut  during 
the  dry  season,  is  then  allowed  to  spring  up,  after 
which  it  is  “sprig  weeded”  and  burnt  after  the 
first  fall  of  rain.  The  stumps  are  cut  close  to  the 
ground,  so  as  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  the  leaves 
of  the  plants,  and  to  facilitate  the  running  of  the 
line  for  planting  and  getting  the  rows  straight. 
Planting—  The  plants  are  “ set  out  ” on  the  dif- 
ferent estates  at  various  distances,  being  6 ft.  by  11  ft 
6 ft.  by  11  ft.,  4ft.  by  lift.,  4 ft,  by  10  ft.,  5 ft.  by  10  ft  ., 
4 ft;  by  10ft.,  6 ft.  by  9 ft.,  5 ft.  by  9 ft.,  4 ft,  by 
9 ft.,  6ft.  by  8 ft.  ’ * 
The  rows  are  kept  perfectly  straight,  for  if  they 
ho  otherwise  there  would  be  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  getting  through  the  fields. 
When  planting,  the  labourers  have  a small  line 
vvith  the  distances  at  which  the  plants  are  to  be 
“set  out  ” knotted  on  it,  and  a pole  cut  to  the  length 
that  the  rows  are  to  be  apart.  A man  and  a boy 
are  employed  at  each  line.  The  boy  drops  the  plants 
along  the  row  at  the  distance  marked  on  the  line, 
and  then  removes  the  line  to  the  next  row,  dropping 
the  plants  as  before.  The  man  does  the  planting, 
and  is  responsible  for  the  rows  being  straight.  When 
coming  to  a rock  the  planter  does  not  turn  aside, 
beyond3  °D’  ^ places  the  Plant  in  the  row  a little 
I he  row  system  facilitates  weeding,  admits  a free 
current  of  air  and  sunlight,  which  is  necessary  to 
harden  and  give  strength  and  texture  to  the  fibre ; 
and  allows  the  labourer  to  cut  and  bring  out  the 
leaf  with  despatch ; and,  what  is  of  greatest  im- 
portance, gives  room  for  replanting  the  field  when 
the  life  of  the  old  plants  is  about  to  terminate, 
which  cannot  be  done  if  the  plants  are  growing  over 
the  fields  irregularly. 
Plants  of  less  than  15  inches  are  not  planted. 
Cutting. — In  Yucatan  the  henequen  matures  in  five 
to  eight  years.  In  the  Bahamas  the  Bahama  hemp 
matures  in  three  to  five  years. 
To  neglect  cutting  the  leaves  after  the  plant  is 
matured  retards  its  growth,  which  causes  it  to  “pole,” 
at  the  appearance  of  which  the  life  of  the  plant  is 
ended,  and  the  planter,  after  reaping  a few  leaves 
only,  must  then  plant  his  fields  afresh.  On  the  other 
hand,  when  the  cutting  is  regularly  attended  to,  the 
life  of  the  plant  is  prolonged,  the  plant  will  produce 
a greater  number  of  leaves,  and  fibre  of  a greater 
length  and  superior  quality. 
The  plant  is  cut  every  three  months,  when  seven 
to  nine  leaves  are  gathered.  The  leaf  is  taken  from 
the  plant  with  a “clean  cut,”  making  the  cut  down 
and  inward  at  an  angle  of  45°. 
Cleaning. — As  soon  as  the  leaves  are  cut  they  are 
taken  to  the  machine  for  cleaning.  The  cleaning 
is  so  arranged  that  one-half  of  the  leaves  to  be 
cleaned  is  taken  from  the  cuttings  of  the  day  pre- 
vious, and  the  other  half  from  the  cuttings  of  the 
same  day,  as  in  this  manner  the  work  can  be  com- 
menced early  in  the  mornieg,  and  steadily  carried 
on  without  waiting  for  leaves  to  be  brought  in  from 
the  field.  The  leaves  are  not  allowed  to  accumulate 
beyond  half  a day's  cleaning,  for  if  left  to  dry 
beyond  the  second  day  they  become  hard,  and  the 
fibre  when  extracted  will  be  dark. 
When  the  Raspador  is  used  for  extracting  the 
fibre  two  operators  are  required ; one  stands  to  the 
left  of  the  wheel  and  the  other  to  the  right.  The 
operator  on  the  left  taking  a leaf  fastens  the  small 
end  with  a lever  to  prevent  the  whole  of  it  being 
drawn  into  the  machine;  the  larger  end  is  inserted 
and  cleaned ; the  other  operator  then  hauls  out  and 
reverses  the  leaf,  putting  in  the  uncleaned  end,  at 
the  same  time  taking  a turn  with  the  cleaned  end 
of  the  leaf  around  a brass  cleat  which  is  fitted  to 
the  machine  for  the  purpose,  and  managing  a brake 
that  regulates  the  pressure  required  for  cleaning  the 
leaf,  finally  drawing  out  the  clean  fibre.  In  this 
manner  14  leaves  per  minute,  or  8,400  leaves  are 
cleaned  for  a day’s  work. 
When  cleaning  with  the  Villamore,  Prieto,  or  other 
automatic  machines,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  lay 
the  bundles  of  leaves  on  a platform  fitted  for  the 
purpose,  when  am  endless  chain  draws  them  into  the 
machine,  the  mechanism  of  which  is  so  arranged  that 
one  wheel  cleans  one  half  of  the  leaf,  the  chain 
taking  it  along,  where  another  wheel  cleans  the 
other  half,  and  then  throws  out  the  clean  fibre  at 
the  opposite  end.  Two  men  and  a boy  are  employed 
at  the  machine,  one  man  to  see  that  the  leaves 
enter  the  machine  on  their  length  and  that  they  do 
not  ride  one  on  the  other : one  to  attend  to  and  re- 
gulate the  maehine,  and  the  boy  to  receive  the  fibre 
as  it  is  brought  out  by  the  endless  chain. 
As  soon  as  the  fibr.e  is  extracted  it  is  dried,  for 
if  allowed  to  remain  without  being  exposed  to  the 
sun  immediately  after  cleaning  it  becomes  dark  and 
spotted. 
Yield  per  Acre. — The  'yield  of  fibre  from  an  acre  of 
henequen  is  from  1,000  lb.  to  1,470  lb.  per  annum. 
The  number  of  plants  usually  set  out  in  an  acre  is 
650,  giving  an  average  of  33  leaves  from  each  plant, 
and  from  50  to  70  lb.  of  clean  fibre  to  the  1,000 
leaves.  Making  an  average  calculation  of  650  plants 
to  the  acre,  33  leaves  from  each  plant,  yielding  60  lb. 
of  fibre  to  the  1,000  leaves,  the  return  would  be  as 
follows : — 33  x 650  = 21,450  leaves,  yielding  60  x 21 
r45-0  = i,287  lb.  clean  fibre  per  annum.  The  plan- 
ters never  speak  doubtfully  of  their  returns,  as 
experience,  shows  them  that  their  crops  can  be  relied 
on  with  almost  complete  certainty. 
Cost  of  Working  and  P/ofts. — The  planter  estimates 
his  crop  to  cost  for  ouKtivating,  cutting,  cleaning, 
baling,  and,  marketing  irym  2J  cents  to  3 cents  per  lb. 
