August i, 1890. 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
87 
ground is rough and difficult to traverse. The cost of 
baling the dry fibre costs from 40 to 50 cents the bale 
of 150 kilos. It may be assumed that a set ot 10 to 
12 fibre machines properly installed and attended by 
men accustomed to the work will turn out on an 
average about 1,200 kilos (2,045 lb. avoir.) of dry fibre 
per day. . . 
Difficul'y is sometimes experienced in obtaining 
pairs of right-handed and left-handed men for each 
machine. Eight-handed men are, as may be expected, 
in excess. As already shown, it is necessary for 
economical working to have a right-handed and a left- 
handed man to attend to each machine. 
Treatment of the Fibre.— When the fibre first leaves 
the scraping machine it is covered with mucilage 
possessing corrosive properties which dries on ex- 
posure to the air. The tendency of this mucilage, if 
left on the fibre, is to turn it of a yellow colour, and 
even sometimes of a reddish colour. To prepare 
the fibre with a bright attractive appearance the best 
plan is to place it, as soon as it leaves the machine (or 
as soon as it has been weighed, to check the amount 
produced by each man), in warm water of a temperature 
of 00 deg. to 80 deg. Uent. (140 deg. to 170 deg. Fab.), 
and leave it there for about two hours. It should then 
be washed in two waters, and finally exposed to the sun 
to be dried. 
A treatment recently employed consists in washing 
the fibre in cold water only. In the first washing soap 
is used at the rate of 2 to 3 per cent, of the wet fibre. 
After being thoroughly washed with soap the fibre is 
passed through pure water until all the soap has dis- 
appeared, then exposed to the sun and dried. By these 
means a beautifully white fibre is obtained. When 
thoroughly dried the fibre is afterwards scutched, to get 
rid of pith and dust. This process is usually performed 
by a machine constructed on the plan of an ordinary 
gratte, but fitted with four blades instead of 12. These 
also turn away from the feed table instead of towards it. 
The fibre is inserted at an opening about G inches higher 
than the centre of the axle. It is carried away by the 
movement of the beaters, and remains on the top of the 
drum, where, exposed to the repeated blows of the 
beaters, it is cleaned of all dust and impurities. 
It may be meulioued that, owing to the coiTOsive 
nature of tho juice of the Aloe leaves, the workpeople 
are compellsd to wear strong leather gloves. The gloves 
are fast'uied to the wrist by leather bands. As tho 
gloves are provided by the proprietor, and they wear out 
very quietly, they constitute quite an appreciable item 
in the co.st of working a fibre factory. 
Addenda. — The upper half of the gratte is covered 
with a semicircular wooden cover, to prevent the “pulpe” 
from being splashed about the place; this “ pulpe,” 
which is semi-liquid, falls on an inclined plane 
standing about 1 foot below the gratte, and upon which 
it slides into troughs, wherefrom it is gradually 
removed and spread to dry. 
There is a considerable quantity of this “ pulpe ” 
produce for one ton of dry fibre (about 20 tons), and 
large areas are required to stack it. The smell from 
the decomposing “ pipe ” is anything but agreeable. 
During the first years of Aloe fibre manufacture in 
Mauritius no use was made of the residue (“ pulpe ”), 
as it was found to burn the plantations when used as 
manure. Of late, however, it has been extensively 
employed by mixing it with other manure, and it has 
given good results in the cane fields. 
(Signed) A. Vandekmekesch, Acting Surveyor. 
February 17 th, 1890. General^ 
Statement of Woek executed at St. Antoine Hemp 
Facioet, in District of Eivee du Hempaet, Madeitius. 
Year 1889. 
February 
.. 15 days’ 
work with 9 grattes. 
March 
18 
.. u 
May 
20 
.. 11 „ 
June 
7 
II 11 11 
GO days. 
Equivalent to 630 dsys’ work of one gratto. 
The produce has beeu 213,371 kilos, oi wet fibre, 
which have given — 
401 bales of dry fibre, 1st tpiality. 
6 „ coarse fibre, inferior quality. 
407 bales, weighing 61,030 kilos. 
Mean day’s work — 10,175 kilos. 
Proportion of dry fibre to wet fibre = 28‘61 per cent. 
A true copy of note supplied by Manager. (Signed) A. 
Vandeemeebsch, Acting Surveyor-General. 
17th February 1890. 

BRAZIL AND THE RUBBER TRADE. 
“ So the swooping down of tlie new Republican 
Government upon the rubber exporters at Para, has 
given the trade rather a twinge,” said one of our 
representatives to a loading London importer the other 
day. The air was redolent of rubber, and before our 
reporter had had time fully to enjoy tho flavour, the 
broker answered i 
“No; say rather a spasm. But it is all over now. 
The Central Government at Rio has stopped the action 
of the Provincial authority which gave the monopoly 
to the Companhia Mercantil.” 
“You did not have to wait for the memorial to Lord 
Salisbury to taka effect. Diplomacy is at the service 
of the City. Fifty or sixty firms importing yearly 
6000 tons of rubber from Brazil always have ambassa- 
dors and ministers pleniputentiary at their beck and 
call.” 
“No doubt the Government would have acted 
in tfie question. But it is not necessary now. The 
French claim the credit for the abolition of the 
monopoly. That really does not matter. What 
we leared was that the new movement would 
not stop at caoutchouc. It might have treated coffee- 
in, the same way.” 
‘ Still, prices have been affected but very slightly 
by the monopoly.” 
“ That is so. But the principle of the Republican 
Government’s action was most unfair. All exporting 
houses in Para were compelled to pay a large per- 
centage to one company, wnioh in its turn was favoured 
with the monopoly by paying a very small tax per 
pound on exports. One of our ehiel complaints was 
that the additional taxation was payable not to the 
Government but to a private trading corporation which 
competed with the payers of the tax in the rubber 
trade. It was not business. It was sheer barbarism.” 
“ 8o the new Government has not made a good 
impression 1 ” 
“ No ; but it has been taught a lesson, and may be 
expected to do better in future. It will reflect before 
it attacks the mercantile interest again.” — British 
Trade Journal. 
♦ 
CONCRETE QUARTERS FOR NATIVE 
CLERKS, GUARDS, AND MENIAL 
STAFF ON INDIAN RAILWAYS, etc. 
By T. Keb, M. Inst. C. E., 
Executive Engineer, P. W. D, 
The excessive cost of housing the Native Staff, owing 
to the necessarily, and by comparison with European 
Railwajs, large number of native employes required, 
has long occupied the serious consideration ol Rail- 
way Administrations in India. The above difficulty, 
ia eifect, has led to temporary structures being re- 
sorted to in many instances, the repairs to which, 
every monsoon, cost in a few years more than per- 
manent quarters could bo erected for. 
The author having had some experience in the 
designing and construction of various descriptions of 
dwelling bouses in India, has, with the object of 
mectiug the exigencies of the case, designed, a class 
of quarters suitable for native clerks, guards, plate- 
layers, pointsmen, gatemeu, &c., the lower state 
generally, for which ho claims the following adi 
vantages 
