CHAPTER XII 
SISAL HEMP AND BLACK WATTLE 
Sisal Hemp .—The cultivation of sisal in the Pro¬ 
tectorate may at last be said to have become one of 
the proved industries of the Highlands. Messrs. 
Swift and Rutherford, the pioneers of sisal planting 
in the Highlands, erected their machinery during the 
course of the last twelve months, and are now turning 
out about two tons of fibre daily. The price realised 
is a satisfactory one, and leaves a very good margin of 
profit indeed. It may be said without cavil from any 
quarter that success was never better earned than in 
the case of these two gentlemen. 
As this book has no pretence whatever to be a 
scientific work, it is not the place to enter on a disserta¬ 
tion as to the best methods of planting, growing, 
or decorticating the fibre. The subject is, moreover, 
an extremely thorny one, since sisal grows in such 
very different circumstances and climatic conditions 
that no definite rule for any but the most circumscribed 
locality can be laid down. It stands to reason that 
any man or company prepared to risk a considerable 
amount of capital would before so doing carefully 
study the conditions on the spot. 
There are certain great advantages in the Highlands 
