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[SANS] Uses of fibres as commercial ventures

More from Marjorie Russell

In 1898 Sir Harry Johnston wrote "The trade products which British Central
Africa gives us in exchange for the [listed] products and are for much
English money are: ivory, coffee, Hippo teeth, Sansevera (Sansevieria)
fibres" et al. "A company has been strated for the cultivation of the
Sansevieria ... but unfortunately at the present time the price of fibre is
so low, that the export of the Sansevieria will not yield large profits".

In 1917 the South African Journal of Industries had a different story. The
Imperial Industries reported on a sample of Sequenga fibre (S. thyrsiflora)
consisting of a short plant of fairly soft, fine, pale straw-coloured
strands of fair lustre, that the material was fairly well cleaned and
prepared though rather gummy in places. The fibre had the usual
characteristics of Sansevieria fibre but it was too short to realize good
prices, varying from 16-24 inches in length. However the Institute further
reported that clean well-prepared Sansevieria fibre not less than 2ft 6
inches in length is saleable in the United Kingdom at about the same price
as sisal-hemp, which is selling at very high prices at the present time (ie
62-76 poinds per ton in 1917, according to quality), but is worth only
about 26-34 poinds per ton in normal times.

In Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) fibre from the wild plant S. cylindrica
was used just after World War 2 by one firm for making twine and rope;
about 5-10 tons per year was made. Now wild plants in Zambia may be
exploited as small family affairs but it is an uneconomic project for
anything more than that. Many years ago a factory in Grahamstown, in the
Republic of South Africa tried to extract the fibre from S. thyrsiflora but
it was unsuccessful. The chief difficulty was to find a cheap and easy
method of extraction. In 1941 a few acres of a large Sansevieria were
planted at Hibberdene in Natal, but they made little growth in 7 years.

A commercial exploitation in Kenya failed for four main reasons. As the
areas near the railway lines became depleted, it was uneconomic to go
further afield. The crop grew slowly. The plants cut in the bush did not
recovery easily. Lastly a stand might contain as many as 3 or 4 different
species, of which one or two might be worthless for fibre. And lastly a
comment from the US Department of Agriculture in the mid-60s. "The US
Department of Agriculture had a production research programme that included
Sansevieria and similar plant species as potential sources of cordage and
textile fibres in the United States. From the viewpoint of pulp producers
the productive character apparently was not event sufficient to justify its
examination in the fibre screening investigations." The general conclusion
seems to be that although accepted as a good fibre plant and having
received sporadic commercial attention, Sansevieria has not been able to
displace such crops as sisal.


Frances Verrity
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