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SISAL HEMP, or HENEQUEN

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 158 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SISAL See also:

HEMP, or HENEQUEN , of See also:Florida and the See also:Bahamas, the product of A gave rigida, variety sisalana, a native of See also:Yucatan, but found in other parts of Central See also:America and distributed to the See also:West Indies, where it is being increasingly cultivated. See also:Agave (q.v.) is a member of the See also:order Amaryllidaceae; and a well-known See also:species of the genus, Agave americana, the See also:century plant, will suggest the See also:habit of the sisal hemp, which, however, differs in the See also:absence of prickles along the margin of the fleshy See also:leaf. After six or seven years the flowering stalk or " See also:pole " develops from the centre of the leaf-cluster, and grows to the height of 15 or 20 ft. The See also:flowers are See also:borne in dense clusters at the ends of See also:short lateral branches, and closely resemble those of Agave americana. After they have begun to See also:wither, buds are See also:developed from the point of See also:union with the See also:flower-stalk; these See also:form tiny See also:plants, which, when several inches See also:long, become detached and fall to the ground. Those that fall in a suitable See also:place take See also:root and are soon large enough to transplant. After flowering the plant perishes, but is renewed by suckers springing from the See also:base of the See also:stem; these suckers are then planted, and the leaves should be ready for cutting in about four years. The other method of planting is by means of "pole" plants just described. In See also:collecting the fibre the leaves are cut off at the base, the spine at the See also:top end removed, and the leaves carried in bundles to the See also:machines. Here two scraping wheels remove the pulpand delivered clean at the other. One See also:half is cleaned by the first See also:wheel, then the cleaned portion is held while the second wheel cleans the See also:remainder of the leaf; all the operations are automatically performed. In Yucatan, the leaves measure from 4 to 5 ft. in length, about 4 in. in width, and in. in thickness.

They are See also:

lance-shaped and weigh from 14 lb to 14 lb on an See also:average. As only about 3 to 4% of the See also:weight is available for fibre, the average yield of toe* leaves is from 50 to 6o lb. The yield per See also:acre is estimated at about half a ton. It has been proposed to treat the pulp, &c., with a view to extracting the chemical substances, but we are not aware that any successful See also:attempt has been made. The fibre is yellowish-See also:white, straight, smooth and clean, and a valuable cordage fibre second only to See also:manila fibre in strength. It is used extensively for cordage and binder twine, both alone and in See also:conjunction with manila, and is also used for bags, hammocks and similar articles. The plants thrive on arid rocky See also:land, growing, for instance, on the Florida Keys upon the almost naked See also:coral See also:rock. Their See also:northern limit of cultivation is determined by See also:frost, which the plants will not stand; in Florida this is represented by the See also:line of 27° N. An inferior fibre is obtained from the leaves of another species, Agave decipiens, which is found See also:wild along the coasts and keys of Florida. It is known as the false sisal hemp, and can at once be distinguished from true sisal by its spiny leaf-margin.

End of Article: SISAL HEMP, or HENEQUEN

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