Royal Gardens, Ejew, 
May 22nd, 1894. 
Sir, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
of May 19th, transmitting a copy of a despatch from the Governor of 
Bahamas respecting the “ Todd ” machine for extracting fibre from 
Sisal Hemp. 
2. .1 his machine is described in Report No. 5 “ Fibre Investiga¬ 
tions in the United States,” issued by the Department of Agriculture, 
pp. 25, 26. The Governor’s despatch gives the first information as to its 
practical working which has reached Kew. As the success of the Sisal 
ITemp enterprise in Bahamas entirely depends on a. satisfactory machine 
being found for the purpose of cleaning the fibre, the information con¬ 
tained in the Governor’s despatch is decidedly encouraging, The price of 
Sisal Hemp is just now lower than it has ever been. It is quoted at 
£16 10s. per ton, compared with £54 three years ago. 
3. Sir Ambrose Shea correctly points out that “it does not 
\ 
“necessarily follow that the 4 Todd’ machine will be suitable where the 
“ conditions of the plant are not similar.” In Fiji the most plentiful 
species is Furor wa gigantea, or Mauritius Hemp. It is possible that the 
Todd ” machine may clean Furorcoa leaves, but it cannot be assumed. 
t/ 
m 
4. The attention of the Governor of Fiji should be drawn to the 
Mauritius machine as likely to answer his purpose. It is described in the 
Kew Bulletin, 1890, pp. 98-104. It is very cheap, can be easily worked 
by a low horse-power, and attended by Indian coolies. 
I am, etc., 
(Signed) W. T. Thiselton-Dyer. 
Edward Wingfield, Esq., C.B., 
Colonial Office, 
Downing Street, S.W. 
