Hawaii Holomua, Volume II, Number 36, 15 February 1894 — A Valuable Fibre Plant. [ARTICLE]

A Valuable Fibre Plant.

Of the plants thtt mn}- begr>wn ( with profit in troj*;cal A - JstrHiia. SiS:\l nsm that seems particular!y w-nhy the attentiou of the dwe!iers in the northern portions of our islmdcontinent. It requires very little i ouItivation, thnves in s >il that is i almost useless f>>r any other purjx»se. yielda n fihre of very high value, and one for whieh thereis a i large demand. Ihe useful qnalit1 iee of this plant were accidentally discovered by Sir A nbrose Shea, ! Goveruor of the Bahamas. While Ion a jonrney, when passing by a negrn’s eahi n, he noticed the line on whieh some clothes were hung j out to dry. Being a nativeofNewj fonndIand and a saīlor, he was well acqnainted with all sortsofcordage, i but he had never before seen one iike this. It was so soft and sllky, , and ytt at the s.ime time of such remarkahle «trength. He asked wht re it eame from. and was told bv ihe r.egr > thst he tuade it himself from the fibrcs of an agave that grew in a cormr of bis plot of groond. Havii.g c< nvinced himself that the ncgro sjx>ke the truth. S ; r Ambmse did not rest until he had persuaded t' e inhabitnnts of the island of Andros t-> undertake the cnltivation < t tieplant saregular industry. He exj>erienced manv | difficulties ere he accomj)lished his , obj<ct—5ndeed, lie dtd not succeed antil he had seat a rhipment of the fibre to London, where it w.is pr«r- j nounced t<> he suj>erior to the fibre obtained frnm Yucatm, and was i valued at ab>ut £'0 per ton. Tlns resalt liael the etfeot of • indncing tbe residents of the island, white, yellow, and black, ! to embark in the bosiness of the cnitivation of Si.>«tl Lemp. One enterprising Scotcbraan purchas ed 2,000 acres of land at a trifle over 2s. j>er »cre, and formed the first p!antation c.f the »gave. At tl.e instigati u of Sir Ambrose a

eompany w s formeU in St. Jobn’s. Newf nndlaml, whieh obtained a concession of 18.000 acres. Another companr, org tnized in Iyindon, pnt {,20,000 acres nnder cuitivation, and two powerfui syndicates eaeh secnred 100,000 acres for tbe prodnction of Sisal hemp. Besides these large rentares thero were many otbers of less importance. The etfect of this indastry being so inpidlr dereloped was to e >ose a considerabie increase in the price of )and io th» islands. In 1890

» Iftud could be obtained at 5s. per acre. iu 1891 it b«d r:-en to nearlv 13s r*»r acr»*. an-l in l v '. r i tbe price *as a littie over 17s. per acre. So far the results that i liave been obtained from the Pahama plantations bave fully jnstifietl the expectations forraed. and the expen.-es incurred in Je ve!oping the in<iustrk'. Two aeres' in f .11 bearing will yield, on an average. a ton of Sisal hemp.. The cost of raising and prepar | ing a ton of the fibre for the mar ket is estiraate«l at from £10 to £15. Yacatan fibre is -oldatfrom £27 to £30 per ton. while the white fibre of superior quality.| s’ich as is grown in the Bahamas. rcalises from £40 to £50 { er ton. As the production of tbis v.»luable fibre increases. it is extre-j mely probable that these prices will not be maintaioed. bnt a: reduction in the price will bring; itintouse in so manv differtntj ways that the demand will be greatlv increased. Tbe United St,»tes alone absorb 60,000 L>ns of this fibre per annnm, aud of late the duty of £3 10s. |x>r ton has been taken oft’ bv the Uoited States Government. Thc agav reqoires four years’ growth bef> re its leavcs are of sufBcient length to be of nse. In cnltivation the

plauts are set out iu rows about 10ft. apart, the sarae distance soparating tbe plants in the rows. When the plants are ynung the'

soil is cross-cultivated throc times a year. but as soon as they have attained a Leight of 3Ht., nothing more is d ne. Frora the fourth year the plantation is in full bearing, aud the propr;etor has nothiug more to do iu the plantation save to cut the leaves regularly. As these leaves yield | ouly about 5 per cent. of theīr weight of Sisal hen.p. carting ! theru to a centr tl depot for treatment would cause considerabel 1 trouble and expeuse. To save ! this maehiuoā have buen inventi ed to do the work on the plant iti ms. It is estimated that 100 i <cres of agave in full bearing is sufficiant to employ one of these 1ecorticating raachines.

i Tbt> A"ave ricida is described jby tīio Kevue ae* Deus Monde s, froin whieL we take most of the inf rm.t on contained in tb s article, »s a plant tlie stem of whieh is ahnost invariable beue. th the soil. It is cr ovned bv # , ” i mnuerous imbricated leaves fnlly ! Gft. long, pnlpy, thick and rigid, | spiny on tlie sides, and anned ! with a formidable sharp thorn at the point of the leaf. An enclosure made witfc the agave is inaccessib!e. It is a gigantic | herb, and one of its leaves is a i load for a man to carry. The i flower stalk spr ngs from the centre of t>ie plant, and often in the course of a raonth obtains a height of 30ft. The plant knowu to us as the prickly a!oe is an almost ex (ct couuterpart of the Agave rigidi. The tibres run the length of the leaves through a| ' thick eollul ir tissue. They an* I of a wbite eol <ur, ns .-troni; as[ 1 the best hemp. and not so liahle to be injured by water. The Iabour C]uestion is an iraport nt one. lu the Baham;ts, colored workmen ean be employed »-s ls. 6d, to 2>. 6d. per day. As the plant donrish-s in a tropical

, climate aml in what rn : ght be described as desert countrv it is ; evident that to carrv on tho in ! dnstrv of prcKlncing Sisal hemp in Northern Anstralia eheap la j bor must be obtained from Iodia, China, or the South Sea Lslands. It is d fficnlt t » s \ what etfect the climate »nd sr.il of Anstmliv may h ve on tbe qnaiity of the fibre pro\lnc d from this pla t, bnt to judge by what has been a(*comp!:shed n the Eihama* the indnstry is one tbit is worthy of a f«ir trial. Shonld the cnltivation of thisi pl «nt prove a snccess considerble I aro»s of wbat are at pr *ent nn-l prodactive Iands m.iy de de to' produce a most valnahle articte of export.