386 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Nov., 1897, 
stone by a wooden mallet until all the bark and woody matter are removed. 
The fibre is then washed until the whole of the sap and dirt are cleaned out. 
It is afterwards thoroughly dried by hanging up in the sun, and lastly baled. 
Proximity to water is necessary in these operations. One Death and Ellwood’s 
machine is sufficient to operate on the product of 100 acres. The largest part of 
the expenditure is for motive power. ‘The machines in use in Mauritius appear 
to fully meet the requirements of the planters there, and, moreover, they have 
been adopted after careful trial with other machines, which have been 
ultimately discarded. 
The machine generally in use is known by the name of “ Gratte.” It 
consists of a drum 2 feet in diameter and 1 foot wide. On the circumference 
of this are bolted 2-inch L-shaped blades, parallel to the axis. The blades 
should be of steel. They are firmly fixed to the drum by means of bolts and 
nuts. The drum is mounted upon an axle, and revolves with great speed, the 
blades passing close to and against the front or edge of a feed table, “Ocr- 
vaute.” This table is adjusted by means of screws, so as to approach to 
within a quarter of an inch or further as may be required. The drum weighs 
about 4 ewt., and the cost, including driving pulley and bolts, would be about 
£24 in Mauritius. Each machine is capable of treating up to 250 1b. of wet 
fibre per day, The machine can be worked by steam or water power. If by 
steam, a 3 h.p. engine is all the motive power required. 
A new and more improved machine has lately been patented in America, 
particulars of which are not to hand yet. 
The “ Forges and Fonderies de Maurice” are the makers of the machine 
above described. 
Orner Uses of THE “ AGAvE.’”’ 
The uses to which the Agave is put are not confined to fibre production 
only, for we find that the juice of the leaves actually yields some 6 per cent. of 
cane sugar (Boisingault). The juice also is made into an intoxicating beverage, 
known as “ pulque” in Mexico, 50,000,000 bottles being annually introduced 
into Mexico from the Maguey district. ‘The juice boiled and the watery por- 
tion evaporated by artificial heat or sun and mixed with lye-ash makes a soap 
that lathers equally as well with salt as with fresh water, one gallon of the 
juice yielding about 1 Ib. of the soft extract. It also makes when distilled a 
brandy known as “ Mexical”’; also an excellent vinegar. The juice of the 
leaves mixed with wail plaster is said to make it proof against the ravages of 
the white ant. The roots furnish a medicine. 
At the request of the Acting Agent-General for Queensland, Mr. Charles 
§. Dicken, a memorandum (here subjoined) was furnished to this Department 
in December, 1895, by Mr. F. A. Abel, secretary and director of the Imperial 
Institute, London, on the cultivation of the plant and the extraction and 
preparation of the fibre :— 
MEMORANDUM ON AGAVE. 
There are several species of the genus Agave, most of them originally 
natives of Central America, and chiefly of Mexico. The Agave americana, 
Century Plant, or American Aloe—called in Mexico the “ Maguey,” or “ tree 
of wonders’’—produces the fibre known as the American Aloe or Pita fibre. 
The Agave vivipara is a plant very similar to Agave americana, but of 
less robust growth. It is common in the North-west Provinces of India, and 
produces the fibre known as “ Bombay aloe fibre.’’ Agave rigida, var. sisalana, 
is the source of the sisal hemp of the Bahamas; Agave rigida, var. elongata, 
produces the Henequen or Sacqui fibre of Yucatan. The above species of Agave 
are easily cultivated, and do not require a rich soil. .In Yucatan it is found 
. that the fibre-yielding plants thrive best and yield the largest amount of fibre 
in comparatively arid districts only a few fect above the sea. Moist or rich 
land is considered unsuitable, for, although the plants will grow in such soil, 
the quantity of -fibre yielded would be comparatively small. A gravelly soil 
