July i, 1890.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
BOMBAY ALOE FIBEE. 
The following correspondence given in the Bomhaij 
Gazette of the 14th instant is of local interest in con- 
nection with the recent discussion in our columns. 
We suppose, it will require tea to fall a little 
lower, and the labour supply to undergo a very 
considerable increase, before some practical atten- 
tion is given by our planters or merchants to the 
work of developing a trade in superior fibres such 
as those which are sources of so much profit in 
Mexico and the Bahamas. 
The following correspondence is sent to us for publi- 
cation : — 
Letter from D. Morris, Esq., to J. A. Godley, Esq., 
0 B , India Ofiice, S.W., dated Koyal Gardens, Kew, 14th 
February. 
With reference to my letter of the 21st February 
1887 and subsequent correspondence on tbe subject of 
Bombay aloe fibre, I am desired by Mr. Thiselton Dyer 
to inform yon that the specimens of plants from India, 
advised in your letter of the 21st ultimo, have been duly 
received at Kew. 
2. These specimens confirm the fact that the Bom- 
bay aloe fibre of commerce is prepared from the leaves 
of Agave vivipara, L., an American species of agave now 
widely distributed throughout the aub-tropionl and 
tropical parts of the old world, and some parts of India. 
From the interesting report of the Officiating Director 
of Land Eeoords and Agriculture (Bombay) we gather 
that the fibre is extracted by certain depressed castes 
of natives by crude and destructive methods, and that 
BO far no attempt has been made to cultivate the plants. 
They are chiefly used as hedge plants and are “ no- 
where at present in abundance.” 
3. It is evident, however, that plants exist in Bombay 
in sufficient quantity to supply several hundred tons of 
fibre received in this country. After a consideration of 
the facts noted below it might be found advisable to 
cultivate this species of agave on waste lands in Bom- 
bay entirely for the sake of its fibre ; or the Sisal hemp 
plant (Agave rigida var. Sisalana) might be introduced 
on a large scale. This latter yields the moat valuable 
fibre of any derived from species of agave, and there 
is little doubt it would thrive equally well in India. 
The important fibre industry of Yucatan, created en- 
tirely within the last twenty years, is now of the an- 
nual value of about three-quarters of a million sterling. 
India has therefore good grounds for devoting attention 
to an industry which so far has established itself on a 
moderate scale in spite of adverse circumstances. 
4. In order to test tbe quality of tbe fibre produced 
by Agave vivipara, when cleaned by machines similar 
to those in use for the preparation of Sisal hemp in 
Yucatan and the West Indies, a few of the broken 
leaves, about a foot to two feet long, taken from the 
larger plant received at Kew, were forwarded to the 
Death Fibre Machine Company, 147, Leadenhall Street, 
E. C, A sample of the fibre obtained by passing the 
leaves through the Death machine is forwarded here- 
with (marked A); while for purposes of comparison a 
sample of the ordinary Bombay aloe fibre as it comes 
into the London market direct from India, is also en- 
closed (marked B). 
5. The great difference in quality and value between 
these two samples is well given in a report prepared by 
Messrs. Ide and Christie, a copy of which is herewith 
attached. The value of the machine-cleaned fibre 
ranges, according to length, from £25 to £30 per ton. 
The ordinary Bombay aloo fibre, cleaned by hand, is 
worth only from £5 to £12 per ton. These figures 
fully bear out the opinion offered in my letter of 
the 21st February 1887 that the Bombay aloe fibre 
industry was capable of being greatly improved. At 
he present time, there is in stock in this country a 
thousand tons of Bombay aloe fibre, which prepared 
roughly by hand will only rea'ize about £8,000, a price 
that will probably hardly pay expenses. If this fibre 
had been cleaned by machinery and presented in the 
condition of the sample marked A, it would realize 
about £27,000 or more than three times its present 
value. It appears possible, therefore, without any 
extension of the present agave plants in Bombay, to 
6 
increase to a very appreciable extent the returns on the 
shipment of aloe fibre from that Presidency. 
6. Mr. Thiselton Dyer has little doubt th.at the facts 
herein stated will prove of considerable interest to 
the Government of ludiii, and they deserve to be 
widely known amongst those concerned in the aloe 
fibre industry. 
Letter from Ide and Christie to D. Morris, Esq., 
M.A., FL.s,, dated 72, Mark Lane, London, E. C., 6th 
February 1890. 
We have your favour of the 4th instant with sample 
of fibre extracted by Death’s process from the leaves 
of Agave vivipara. This is an excellent fibre, ot fair 
strength, fine colour (which, however, may change 
Bomewhit under continued exposure to the air), and 
were it three times as long, would bo worth £30 per 
ton today in London ; if twice as long £27 ; and as it 
is, it may be valued at £25. 
The ordinary “ Bombay aloe ” of commerce presents 
a very different appearance to your specimen, as per- 
haps samples in your museum may show. Its value, 
today is— good £12, common £5 per ton. 
^ 
LABOUE (COOLIE) SUPPLY IN CEYLON; 
The Kangani and “ Coast Advances” 
System on Ceylon Estats. 
Eeoently, when detailing the system of money and 
rice advances against monthly wages to oooliea em- 
ployed on estates, and of settlements for two or three 
months at a time, we alluded to the kangani system 
as having, equally with the system described, 
survived all outside objections. We did not 
then however, enter on the peculiar feature of this 
kangani system, that of “coast advances.” “ Coast ” 
in Ceylon parlance means tbe opposite coast of 
India, and the “ advances ” are made primarily to 
Tamil kanganiea to enable them to proceed to the 
coast of India and inland into the densely peopled 
districts, to obtain and bring over a force of labourers. 
By a now settled custom the advance made to the 
kangani, and for repayment of which he is res- 
ponsible to the estate owner or superintendent, 
is KIO for each cooly. By another well estab- 
lished custom this advance of ElO per head 
has assumed to some degree a perpetual form. 
That is to say, the kangani of a gang of labourers 
employed on an estate owes the estate ElO for 
each of his labourers, while they are correspond- 
ingly indebted to the kangani. If there are 500 
men, women and children (the latter able to work) 
employed on an estate, the books of that estate 
as a rule so general as to admit of few excep- 
tions, will show R5,000 out in “ coast advances.” 
All this is simply a matter of custom and agree- 
ment, and in the rare cases where coolies cheat 
a kangani, or a kangani and coolies cheat their 
employer, there is only the civil remedy available, the 
labour laws providing no penalties for what they 
do not recognize. Under certain circumstances 
such as we heard of recently, the charge of 
“ obtaining money under false pretences ” could, 
we should think, be preferred. The honour- 
able understanding amongst planters is that 
when a kangani and his gang leave one 
estate they shall not be engaged for em- 
ployment on another unless the kangani pro- 
duces a “ tundu,” that is a bit of paper from 
the previous employer stating that anyone paying 
such previous employer the advances due, the 
amount being stated, can take on the kangani 
and his gang. It is, of course, part of the 
honourable understanding that the previous em- 
ployer acts bona fide and uses all his influence 
for the transfer intact of the gang to the estate 
of the person who has given him a cheque for the 
advanoea, As a general rule the system works 
