The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1890-06-18
81 per Annlln, in advance.

the distance of fourteen or sixteen inches in the
drill, as soon as all danger OF frost has passed.
The plants taken up in thinning, transplant
easily as mangle-wurzel. 1t has no enemies of
consequence fea-beetle and locusts will feed upon
the leaves but will not touch the heart, and do
little or no damage; The cut-worm, which is
great pest here does not touch it, and the black
beetle, destroys but few young seedlings from
derground.
Gas soon as the plants are twelve or eighteen
inches high, they should be nipped or budded if
they do not appear to branch out freely; from
twelve to eighteen stalks should grow from each
plant The first year after the first cutting, up
wards of fifty stalks will spring out; the greater
the number and the slenderer the growth, the
softer and stronger the FIBRE
"Reaping may begin about six months from
the time of sowing, and continue six months.
''The fodder consists of the leaves and tender
tops, which are of no use for fibre and may be
cut before the crop is harvested, if desired.
'H the pant is only grown as a forage plant,
it should not be cut before it is twelve sixteen
inches high.
''In climates where the orange tree grows, four
crops would be certain. which would amount to
twelve tons per during the year.
"The stalks for fibre should be cut about six
inches above the soil, and may be treated to ex-
tract the fibre at once; (they should not be cut
however, more than twelve hours in advance, y
for this purpose, any of the various hemp or fax
machines will answer jet of water, must
always flow upon the place offrictiOn Before the
first is dried, is should be suIphured similarly to
straw goods
another way of extracting the fibre, is by
rotting the stalks in water which is the easier
and cheaper way.
''This is done in vats which should be SO con
structed, as tobe easily empted they should not
be more than four feet deep. A vat twenty by
forty feet and four feet deep will hold enough
stalks to produce a ton of clean fibre.
''To uniform Whiteness of the fibre,
water should be gently running from vat to
another all the while, and never at a temperature
lower than eighteen degrees centigrade during
day time. When vat is packed with stalks.
narrow inch planks should be placed across it
the stalks so that tubs casks filled with water
can be put upon them, so as to hold the stalks
constantly under water at least two inches nd
allowed to remain ten or fifteen days. when they
will be found ready for washing.
'The washer now takes his station alongside
of the vat and takes a handful of the stalks in
his hand, catching them in the middle, he turns
the top ends towards the surface of the water, at
inclination of aboutfOrty five degrees Pokes
the thin end three four times into the water when
if the stalks sufficiently rotted the fibre at the
upper end hangs down in a lock of which the washer
takes hold and let's loose the middle, so that the
whole handful hangs upon the lock OF loose fibre.
He then gives two three jerks with the hand,
holding the fibre lock upward, and all the stalks,
free of fibre, drop out. This is repeated until he
has good handful separated from the stalks.
He again takes them at one end and lowers the
hand until about six inches from the water,
that the fibre nearly floats upon the surface; he
then moves the hand quickly from right to left
(iust as a woman rinses cothes) about dozen
times and the fibre is washed as white as snow.
Then taking the clean end in his hand, he repeats
the operation with the other end. The whole op-
Grafton is done quicker than it can be told and
half an hours practice will make skilled washer
of any person OF ordinary intelligence.
cone person can wash out 100 pounds of fibre
in ten hours; this shows how easily the fibre is