The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-10-16 00:00:00

,EMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

with it. Here is a material which India supplies
in
great
abundance, the difficulties of spinning
which are shown not to be insuperable. Then
look at the Morool fibre, which botanists call
sanseviera, which is sent from the Punjaub and
Madras—more than 1,000 miles apart—and
flourishes in the most desert wastes. There is
nothing to prevent this from being extensively
used in a variety of ways. The French show
bonnets, and the Austrians beautiful mats, made
from the fibre of the American aloe, of which an
abundant supply can be obtained from India. So
also with pineapple fibre, which is exhibited, con-
verted into excellent rope, and even the tow of
which is pronounced by competent judges to pos-
sess valuable manufacturing properties. Take
again plaintain fibre, and consider the encouraging
prospect which it holds out to the paper-maker.
The plant is cultivated for its fruit, and the stem
must be cut down every year, so that the fibre is
a refuse material which will neither rot nor burn
easily. Numerous specimens of paper made from
it in Dr. Hunter's school at Madras, and in the
gaols, are exhibited, for the most part in the un-
bleached state; and British Guiana and Algeria dis-
play a similar reliance upon the feasibility of apply-
ing the fibre to this use. Of course, nothing short of
a full and fair trial by people engaged in the manu-
facture can determine whether the material is
capable of being utilized in the way thus sug-
gested ; but many of the conditions which it
presents seem highly favourable to the experi-
ment, and the fact that changes must be made in
the present machinery of our paper-mills in order
to carry it out ought not to be considered as tan-
tamount to a condemnation. The fibre called
yercum, with a medium strength between hemp
and China grass, will be found worthy of attentive
examination, as also the Dhanchee fibre from
Bengal, and the Wuckoo Nar from Travancore.
This last material seems excellently adapted for
the canvas of which our coal-sacks are made, the
extensive patching to which they are at present
subjected proving that something stouter and
cheaper is required. Some fine specimens of
cables made at Calcutta with Jubbulpore hemp,
drawn from the centre of India, are exhibited ;
and there are also excellent samples of the Hima-
laya hemp, which is considerably stronger than
the best Russian. Perhaps, however, the most
remarkable and valuable feature in this collection
of fibres will be found in the wild nettles from
Assam. These have a great length of staple,
stand an immense strain, and in the cultivated
state are not distinguishable from China grass.
Dr. Boyle also draws attention to the hibiscus as
a substitute for jute, and superior to it in several
respects. At his suggestion the East India Com-
pany have given orders for the annual importa-
tion of small quantities of the Morool Himalaya
hemp, Assam nettle, and other fibres, in order to
give manufacturers a fair opportunity of testing
their quality, and, if satisfied therewith, of making
their own arrangements for obtaining a regular
supply. The Indian raw produce collection is
further distinguished by samples of silk in the
unmanufactured state, which have excited an im-
mense interest here, and which are not less worthy
of increased attention in England.

The French silk trade will not be slow to esti-
mate the importance of turning to useful account
the supplies that can be obtained of Tusser silk,
the worm which produces it being found all over
the jungles of India. Its lustre is inferior to that
of the common silkworm, but we find the natives
turning it to excellent account. The two varieties
of Moonga and Eri silk from Assam have also
been closely examined ; and English visitors ob-
serve with satisfaction some remarkable specimens
of raw silk produced in the Punjaub, where the

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mulberry flourishes in great abundance, and where
within the last two years the culture of the silk-
worm has been introduced with every prospect of
successful results.