The sugar cane plant of four Mauritian cane varieties and of three ages was successfully separated into fibres of its component parts by means of a simple physical method specially developed for the purpose. The use of a 1.18 mm sieve ensured complete separation of fibres from pith, of which the ratio gives an indication of the milling quality of the cane variety. The four cane varieties under study showed a fibre/pith ratio approaching one, indicating good millability. In terms of % cane the greatest percentage of dry mass of fibre was extracted from the rind. For rind this percentage decreased with the age of the cane sample for all the varieties.