A RIVAL TO NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

Otago Witness, Issue 3101, 20 August 1913, Page 18

A RIVAL TO NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

ALOE FIBRE IX SOUTH AFRICA

The Furcrae aloe is being cultivated in Natal for the fibre obtained from it, and

is therefore coming into competition with New Zealand hemp, although it is probable it will not bo a serious rival, as the area on which the aloe can be cultivated profit-

ably dors not appear to bo extensive. The young aloe trees from which the loaves arc obtained bear a very close resemblance to a young New Zealand cabbage tree. Only the lower leaves are cut. In the Agricultural Journal of South Africa for June is an account of a visit paid to the plantation of Messrs Manning and Collison, leading fibre-growers in Natal. The Woodoroft Estate is 90 miles from Durban. Some 3CO acres are under the dark green aloe. The process of manufacture is on somewhat similar lines to that in preparing New Zca land hemp. A native with a mallet crushes the heavy butt, of the leaves on a block. The leaves-are then fed one by one into the mill, a double rasped or, where each leaf is subjected to the beating of rapidlyrevolving knives. The wet. gummy fibre is then conveyed to great wooden tanks, where it is washed in cold and hot water. The fibre is then taken to the drying yard, where it is hung on frames. When dry, it is taken to the scutcher, where roughnesses in the strand are removed, after which it is haled for the market. The yellow-green pulp which was removed from the leaves by tiie machine is meantime placed on trucks and removed outside the mill. By means of n fork the masses of short and broken fibres are removed, and after being dried becomes the tow of commerce. Mr Alarming, in the course of an interview, expressed the opinion that if a man grew his own aloes and milled his own fibre he could not do with less than 100 acres. For that acreage an outlay of £IOOO would bo necessary to bring the crop up to the time of first cutting. Machinery, mill, and other equipment would cost about £2OOO. Planting for a central mill would be -a different proposition, and on this system a man with a few hundred pounds x ehonid be able to make a good living. Owing to hail and severe frosts, planting was not likely to be successful in the interior. Olay and marsh lands were unsuitable. Mr Manning said that, roughly speaking, the profit was £lO per acre, not subject 1 , of course, to the fluctuations of the market, cost of labour, etc., The South African p’anter has the advantage of cheap native labour.