THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
[March 2, 1891 . 
>44 
When the fields have arrived to “cnttius; vge” and 
the work once begun there is no “out of crop” but 
a perpetual work all the year round. _ 
The plant lasls according to the best authorities for 
at least 25 years in cutting state, pending on the soil 
and treatment. , , , . 
It takes at most three years after being planted to 
arrive to its cutting state. At this stage and onwards 
during its existence the more a plant is cut the better 
it thrives, the more leaves it throws out; while if it 
were to be left uncut it would, in a short time, grow- 
ing until it finds no other vent, send out a pole from 
the centre, the appearance of which determines its 
death although young, and do what you may it ulti- 
mately dies,— singularly strange, but really true, so 
that the greatest caution is to be observed as soon as 
it reaches this state, which will he found fully ex- 
plained in the chapter on cutting, &c. 
After it reaches the age of 12 months it mil, if 
p'auttd in tho proper manner, begin to send out aroui d 
its root young shoots or suckers j and lyhen it arrives 
to the age of cutting, iiinumerablo quantities of them, 
so that when there is no place to be pl-aiited they have 
to be cut off and thrown away, the fivld not admitting 
of any more plants than those already sec out, p.rid 
more lhan that, if these shoois are allowed to remain 
they greatly injure the mother plant by taking from 
it the nourishment it needs. Inasmuch as j make 
these remarks my readers must not for a moment think 
it a delicate p'ant; on the contrary, naUirally with care 
it will turn to better account. 
To replenish a field it would only be necessary who' j 
after a number of vears, the mother plants show 
signs of fading, to plant at the proper distances, by 
the sides of the old plants or between them youag 
shoots which three years after and upon the failure 
of the old ones will be fit for cutting, when a new 
field will he up without any loss of time or suspension 
of work. This is undoubtedly the practict; carried on 
in Yucatan, and a very good one, there being no 
necessity of new lands for the fresh planting, as the 
old flcld.s suit admirably and give good results. 
Old worked lands are known to give the best yield. 
Chapter II. 
The Diffeeent Species op Hemp Plants. 
There are in Yucatan seven classes of hemp plants 
with indigenous names, which they retain to the present 
day. It may not be out of pleoe and uninteresting to 
give a description of each of them. The following 
are 1h‘ir names; Sacqui, Chelem, Yaxqui, Chuchum- 
qui, Babqui, Quitamqui and Cnjum. In the first place 
IS considered Sacqui; this name, according to the 
Indian dialect, signifies white, not by its fibre being 
white, but because the greeune.'s of the plant is lighter 
lhan any other. This class of hemp plant is the one 
that has been attended to in its propagation on account 
of all its good qualities, and of which chiefly the planr 
tatioDS consist, forming the article of export in the 
raw as well as manufactured state and giving all that 
is desired, viz., abundance, flexibility, whiteness, 
strength, length and weight. The second Chelem, 
partly wild, is found in abundance iu the woods and 
is productive. It is lield tobeofgooclqualitybi cau.se 
its fibre is white and strong. Yaxcpii takes the third 
place; this has short leave.”, gives a small quantity of 
filament which is soft, fine and strong. The fourth 
cIh.ss, Chnchumqui, is much like the Sacqui, with the 
difference that its leaves are harder ami thicker 
and its fibre coar.ser and lefs flexible, which makes 
it unacceptable. 
'I'he fifth class called Babqui has leaves which pro- 
duce a small quantity of fibre alth' ugh of good quality. 
In tlie sixtli jjlace is cousidored Quilamqui of short 
tliin le aves, producing little fibre, through which it is 
not nppreciaied. 
In the seventh and last class stands Cajum ; this 
has long halves, very didirate, of pallid colour and 
lives a small (ptautitv of fibre. 
To retiini to our o'ljcet: the fiist cliiss Sacqui, 
which this work r< lates to and treates of entirely, is 
what clmins our attention ; it is tlie plant wo look for, 
the one we want, having in it both quantity and 
quality, and ail otherwise that renders it acceptable 
.md worthy of cultivation. The application of the word 
“Sisal” to Ibis hemp, by which it is known and 
called, is derived frem a port of Yucatan of that name, 
whence it u=ed to be shipped formerly, hut which 
has been abandoned for the other port of Pregresso, 
where the total sbij ping of that State is now carried on . 
Chapter III. 
The Soet of Land and the Peepauation of It. 
For the cultivation of this plant due regard should 
be paid to the selection of Ihe lands as well as the 
locality, Gravelly, stony and rocky lands are most ap- 
propriate, also any other dry and impoverished soil. 
Swampy land would be very unsuilable as it keeps 
uniibsorbed a large amount of water. Sisal Hemp 
planted on rocky lands is perfectly at home and will 
astonish any one to know how it survived and grew. 
There is no objection whatever to tho poorest land or 
those worked for many years, even lands that are 
considered ruined by continual fibres, such as our 
savannahs. 
These are quite suitable for the plant, provided they 
do not keep water on them very long. 
iSugar estates recently tbewn cut of cultivation are 
unfit from the manure which renders tlie land rich, as 
the, consequences would be that the plants grow rapidly, 
give a large leaf, but produce no fibre. The satne 
would, I coi sider, apply to the very cool mountain 
climate of Jamaica where it might grow, but give 
little or no fibre. 
It requires all the heat po -sible to give^^good results. 
It would te necessary iu the selection of the lands to 
have level cnes cs near as possible, which will admit 
of the e isy and cheap carriage of the leaves from the 
field to the machine. 
Hhe P reparation of the Land. — Of this no considera- 
tion needs be takm apart from having the land 
cleaned up and fenced, ploughing and macuriug not 
coming iu the way at ad- 
After the selection of the laud has been made, pro- 
ceed in the month of June or July, as is customary 
in Jamaica, to cut down and clean it up, taking care 
to have the trees cut as close to the earth as is pos- 
sible, leaving iu this way wry short stumps, giving 
room to the piny the leaves ought to have. The 
stumps should b'f burnt out cr taken out somehow, 
so lib to create regularity in the plauling; all this 
should be done and the land made clean to meet the 
month of September, which geceraily brings much 
rain ; if a return of very high weed give it a cleaning 
and so have it prepared for the reception of the plants 
as this will be the opportune time to put them in, 
taking advantage of the eersons to make a good start, 
all the plants being provided in their nursery be- 
forehand. 
The land for the planting of Sisal Hemp must be 
entirely free from all shade as the plant requires very 
much the aid of the sun to forward its growth and 
giva,th-“ueoes6ary result; it would not thrive if shaded, 
the more heat the more fibre it turns out there being 
less bagasse. 
It may be p’anttd any month of the year, but it 
is wiser to do so during rainy seasons, for the plants 
getting a fair start will not be retarded so much in 
their growth as they would otherwise and consequently 
will give a return far sooner. 
Fences are only required when the plants are young, 
as being diminutive they would be trampled or knocked 
out their hole.s, but .'o soon us they pass that con- 
dition fencing becomes mere a luxury than a necessity, 
the lease n of wh'ch (alre.ady said) is that no animal 
molests the p'ant, ratlu r keeping away from it. 
Chapter IY. 
The Young Plant, s, their Selection, the Nui sees 
FOE THEIR Firs, Reclption, Field Planting, 
In obtaining the young plants the younger they can 
he got the better it will be, as they grow much more 
