388 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Nov., 1897. 
use in case of accidents; for should the large machine break down or get out 
of order, leaving 70,000 or 80,000 leaves on hand, and there be no means of 
cleaning them, it would involve a loss of over 4,000 Ib. of fibre. 
The Raspador is a 54-inch “ wheel,” said to be invented and manufactured 
in Mexico. It requires a 2-horse power engine to run it at a steady rate of 
200 revolutions per minute, at which speed the best results are obtained. 
Capacity, 500 Ib. dry fibre per day of ten hours; requires the services of 
two men. 
The Barraclough, constructed by T. Barraclough and Co., Manchester, is 
similar to the Raspador, but of superior make. Capacity, 500 to 600 lb. dry 
fibre daily. 
The Prieto machine is manufactured by Ping and Negre, Barcelona, 
Spain; requires a 16-horse power engine and the services of two men and a 
boy. Capacity, 7,000 lb. dry fibre per day of ten hours. Cost, 4,500 dollars. 
The Villamore machine, made by Krajewski and Pesant, 35 Broadway, 
New York, requires a 15-horse power engine and the services of two men and 
a boy. Capacity, 6,000 Ib. fibre per day of ten hours. Frame made of wood. 
Cost, 500 dollars. 
The Weicher machine, constructed by J. J. Weicher, 108 Liberty street, 
New York, is fitted with a service-pipe for throwing a stream of water on the 
fibre as it is being cleaned, and is claimed by the inventor to lose but 14 per 
cent. only, as the leaves are fed into the machine endwise. Requires 12-horse 
power engine and services of three men. Capacity, 2,500 Ib. dry fibre per day 
of ten hours. ‘ 
The Death and Ellwood machine, constructed by W. E. Death, of Brixton 
(London 8,E.), requires a 3-horse power engine to drive it ata velocity of 
400 revolutions per minute, and washes the fibre when cleaning. Like the 
“Weicher,” the leaves are fed into the machine endwise. 
With the exception of the Raspador and Barraclough, all the other machines 
are automatic; they rasp the pulp from the fibre on the same principle as the 
Raspador. Their wheels being smaller, require a velocity of 500 revolutions to 
the minute to give good results. Beyond cleaning a greater number of leaves, 
they do not appear to do better work, as the percentage of loss is as great in 
the one as the other, and the fibre is equally as clean. 
There are 200 Henequen estates in Yucatan, varying from 500 to 28,000 
acres in extent, having a total of 105,000 acres under cultivation, employing 
12,000 Indian labourers. The largest and best estates are on the rocky 
gravelly lands. ach estate is managed by three principal men—the attorney, 
the manager, and assistant manager. The largest of them employ locomotives 
for hauling in the crop from the fields, others using tramway trucks or carts 
drawn by mules or oxen. Estates with less than 800 acres under cultivation 
erect one “ Raspador” for every 100 acres. Those of 1,000 acres use the large 
automatic machines. 
The size of the cultivations on the estates ranges from 250 to 3,500 acres. 
They are laid outin fields or sections of 50 to 200 acres, and contain from 600 
to 900 plants to the acre. When preparing, the fields the land is cut during 
the dry season, is then allowed to spring up, after which it is “ sprig-weeded,” 
and burnt after the first fall of rain. The stumps are cut close to the ground 
so as to be out of the way of the leaves of the plants, and to facilitate the 
running of the line for planting and getting the rows straight. 
The plants are “‘set out” on the different estates at various distances, 
being—6 feet by 11 feet, 5 feet by 11 feet, 4 feet by 11 feet, 6 feet by 10 feet, 
5 feet by 10 feet, 4 feet by 10 feet, 6 feet by 9 feet, 5 feet by 9 feet, 4 feet by 
9 feet, 6 feet by 8 feet. The rows are kept perfectly straight, for if they be 
otherwise there would be the greatest difficulty in getting through the fields. 
When planting, the labourers haye a small line with the distances at which the 
plants are to be “set out” knotted on it, and a pole cut to the length that the 
rows are to be apart. A man and boy are employed at each line. The boy 
! 
