Aug. 1, 1899.] THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST 
87 
" Have you made any application to the autho- 
rities for assistance?" — "We intend to apply 
that for the purpose of our experiment tlie liail- 
way authorities should grant a rebate of the 
dues. The experiment, as it is, will en' ail a 
great deal of expense. It is a new industry 
which should benefit the Colony a good deal. 
The machinery will be made in the Colony the 
plants are grown in the Colony ; native labour 
will be employed, both skilled and othei wi-e ; 
it will increase the revenue ot the railway and 
the shipping agencies and the money realized by 
the sale ot the fibre will be spent in the Colony. 
Large orders are constantly being received for 
the supply of the raw material and these are 
likely to increase especially as I see from to- 
day'.s papers that the American have captured 
Ilo Ilo, which vras abandoned after the Filippinos 
had first fired the place." 
"But the' telegram said the Americans speedily 
extinguished the flames?" — " Yes, but there is no 
reason to doubt that the Filippines destroyed 
the manufactories in the same way as the;^' tlid 
the chief centre at Manila. From the latest ad- 
vices Manila hemp has gone up from £40 to £ 50 
a ton in consequence of the disturbed state of 
the country." 
"I suppose the machine has been tested at 
Natal ?"— " Oh ! yes, and also in London and 
Glasgow, and from the latter place we have 
received orders to supply on an average 100 tons 
a month for weaving and rope purposes. The 
chief difficulty is to get a sufficient supply of 
the green stuff". a 
"Is that likely to be a serious difficulty in 
Ceylon?" — "No, I regard Ceylon as the natural 
habitat of the plant. It was a great difficulty 
in Natal. We had to plant out and experienced 
a lot of trouble through it. The cultivation of 
the aloe plant should specially commend itself 
to the tea planter. If he finds that his tea is 
likely to come to grief, that his land is bad 
and will not grow tea, or that he cannot afford 
to go in for manuring, constant pruning, and 
such like, he had better put in aloe, wait two 
years and then he would find he would get a 
valuable commodity which would last for seven 
years before it would require being renewed. That 
18 what we do in Africa, where those engaged 
in the sugar industry chiefly suffer through the 
ravages of locusts, which sometimes tlueaten the 
grower with ruin altogether. In the Baliams 
there are 70,000 acres planted with sizal hemp 
which is not so good as the aloe fibre, and only 
obtains an inferior price in the mat ket, rates 
being governed solely from the standpoint of the 
length of the strips. The machine which I have 
patented is the only fibre extractor in Africa. 6 
1 hope to get a sufficient supply of green stuff' 
to commence experiments in a fortnight's time 
I have had the machine protected in Ceylon 
India, and Burma, and machinery is being con- 
structed in Calcutta. It will deal with all leaves 
Containing any fibre, independent of size, from 
a ten-foot aloe leaf to a foot pineapple leaf c. It 
is a self-feeding machine capable of being adapted 
to any size. Of course, I have not had time to 
a Machine hag never been tested except in Natal 
Mr. Stevensona's cwn machine, primitivel3' mad» 
according to Silburn's drawings. Some fibre was sent 
to London and Glasgow and reported upon. — K. 
b There are a number of powerful machines in use 
in Bahamas, Yucatan, &c. with a very large fibre- 
texracting capacity, — E. 
c Would need special adjuatmeat for a small leaf .— E. 
go much about the country, but as I have sa 
I believed the particular plants we want thriv 
largely in Ceylon." 
The conversation ended here Mr. Silhurn's 
attention being called off' to attend to matters 
connected with the forthcoming work of the 
Syndicate — Local " Independent. ' 
[The commercial name of the fibre is Mauritius 
Hemp of which 800 to 1,000 bales are exported 
from the Colony monthly but it is claimed that 
the machine will prorluce t!ie hemp longer, better, 
and unbroken and extract at least tivice the vveiglit 
of dry fibre from tlie same wieght of green aloe 
leaf.— Ed. T.A.] 
OUPRESSUS BIACROCAEPA 
In the villa gardens round about Torquay this 
Conifer is put to valuable use, aud if pro'per atten- 
tion be afforded, it admirably answers its purpose. 
Many of the villas are built on undulating laud, and 
the roofs of some are almost in a line with the 
ground floors of those juat above them on the hills. 
It follows that the garden of one is often open to (hose 
ef its neighbour, and even to those placed on level 
ground, there is always a desire on the part of the 
occupants for a certain degree of privacy and 
seclusion, so essential to the enjoyment of a tjarden. 
The garden-walls aie about 3 or 4 feet high, with 
soil on the inside borders almost level with tiie top 
of the wall. On this a number of Oupressus 
macrocarpa are planted, 2 or 3 feet apart, and 
being a quick grower, the lower portiou soon 
thickens ; and when the plants have grown some 
6 or 8 feet high the leaders are cut away which 
encourage the thickening of the top. Ere, however, 
this finishing part is permitted, it is necessa,ry that 
a strong iron railing be run the whole length of 
the intended hedge, aud stout iron standard and 
stays well secured to the wall as well as the border 
inside with a couple of rails, one ab^ut 2 feet fron:; 
the ground, and the other 5 feet. These of course, 
are firmly fixed to the upright so that when finished 
the whole is strong aud able to resist the winds 
which will, by-and-by, try the hedge. The plants 
are secured to this iron railing, which is soon hidden 
and as they reach the height previously mentioned 
topped and clipped, a most compact and beautiful 
hedge is formed which entirely shields everytliing 
in the garden from the gaze of passers by or from 
neighbourly observation. The hedge may be per- 
mitted to measure 3 feet through at the base, gradu- 
ally slopping in height till the top, perfectly level, is 
about a foot in thickness. Some run just 6 feet 
heigh, 2 feet at the base, slopping gradually to the 
top. The bright, pleasant green of the young shoots 
just at the present season makes such a hedge singu- 
larly attractive. Some of the owners, I notice, have 
made provision for the little gaps that occasionally 
occur in the lower part of the plants by planting a 
row of Euonymus between the Cupressus and the 
walls ; these are kept dense and compact by constant 
clipping. The variegated forms as well as the com- 
mon Euonymus are used, the who a making a veiy 
pretty and complete bank of vegetation, always green, 
and most attractive. The beauty of such a hedge is, 
ot course, enhanced and preserved by regular clippings 
— twice a year they should be attended to by one who 
thoroughly understands his work. Of course, anyone 
can use a pair of clipping shears ; but where .straight 
and curved lines and level top are to be maintained 
it is very desirable that one who is somewhat of an 
adept at his work should be always permitted to do it. 
In the hot summer seasons in the south of Devon, and 
on raised banks and borders, it is necessary that 
the hose-pipe be used, and abundant supplies of water 
constantly afforded, as only by such means can the 
health of the hedge-plants be maintained. K^. S, 
Exmouth ,— Gardner' s Chronicle, 
