therefore to be received with due reserve until the per¬ 
formances of the machine have been fully tested. 
Summary. I may add that I have seen most, fibre machines 
that have been brought forward and tested during the last 
• • • 
12 years. 1 am not yet in a position to say that any 
machine has fulfilled all the conditions necessary in 
cleaning Sisal hemp fibre. The whole of the Mauritius hemp 
(from TUrcrcea gigantea) exported from that island is 
cleaned by the Gratte, locally made and costing about 
£ 30. (Kew Bulletin, 1890, p. 98). This has to be fed with 
r 
one or two leaves at a time, and there is considerable 
waste* There is also some risk to the workpeople, who have 
to hold the leaves in their hands while they are being 
cleaned. The Yucatan fibre is cheifly, if not entirely, 
cleaned by the rough contrivance known as the Raspador, 
also locally made (Kew Bulletin, 1892, p. 37, with woodcut) 
The working of this is slow and wasteful, but with very 
cheap labour the industry is apparently very remunerative 
when prices are high. There is probably little or no in¬ 
ducement, owing to cheap labour, to introduce improvements 
« 
in fibre cleaning in Yucatan. In the Bahamas the circum¬ 
stances are entirely different, and a satisfactory machine 
is indispensable. The various machines that have hitherto 
sought 
