The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-03-19
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
THE okRA PLANT.

THE OkRA PLANT.
1t Is Likely to Take Prominent Place In
the Future.
There seems to be strong proba-
bility that the plant known as okra
(Abelmoschus esculentus) will be made
to furnish valuable fiber. The plant
grows wild all through the Southern
States, and has been known for years
to farmers and stockmen as capable of
producing a very strong fiber, which in
Texas and other localities is now used
in making lariats.
Ten years ago the Department. of Ag-
riculture had samples of the plant grown
In its greenhouses, and report was
made on the quality of the fiber, but
nothing seems to have come of
it. Recently, however, the sub
ject has been revived, and the
Commissioner of Agriculture of
South Carolina, Mr.. A. P. Butler, seems
to be very confident that new industry
with vast possibilities is about to be
opened up. A specimen of the fiber
which has been received from Mr.. But
Ter through the department at Wash
lngton shows a long, strong and glossy
thread somewhat resembling hemp,
though darker in color. The fruit
which this okra plant produces is
priced as vegetable, the mucilaginous
pods being used for thickening soup and
to form peculiar Southern dish called
gumbo The Southern soil is especially
adapted to growing the plant, as the
abandoned rice fields and undrained
lands generally could be utilized for
raising vast quantities of it. Okra is
also native of the West Indies, nota-
bly, Cuba, where it grows in almost all
soils, and is indigenous to Africa,
where it grows wild. 1t is
abundant on the White Nile and
near the Victoria Nyanza, and has long
been naturalized in India, where it is
cultivated for its edible pods. The
fiber which has been produced abroad
is described as long and silky and
generally strong and plant, its break
ing strain according to Roxburg being
seventy-nine pounds dry and ninety-five
pounds wet. When we'll prepared, as in
the Southern Presidency of India, it is
adapted for the manufacture of rope,
Irvine, sacking and paper. 1t is used
to adulterate jute in Decca and Mymens-
ing. In France the manufacture of pa
per from the fiber is patented, and here
it receives only mechanical treatment
and produces q paper called banda,
which is said to be equal to that made
from pure rags.
1t is claimed for the okra fiber, that,
inasmuch as the wood surrounds the
fiber instead of being mixed with it, as
in jute, and also that the work of prep
aration can be done by machinery, the
cost OF production can be reduced to one
cent per pound. Jute can only be profit
ably produced in countries where man
ual labor is very cheap. as in india and
China, because no machine has been de-
vised for separating the wood from the
fiber. Vast quantities of jute are inn
ported by the United States, and it is
used in making gumny cloth, cordage.
shirting, coat Innings, and it is extern
sively employed in mixing with silk,
cotton and WOODEN fabrics, and in paper
making. 1t is believed that okra fiber
can be substituted for jute in the coarser
OF these lines of manufacture, and some
even claim that it will be found availa-
BILE wherever jute is now employed.
1t is easily to be seen from this that
If the okra fiber stands the test of fur
ther experiment, new and most i'm
portant industry will spring into being.
The Agricultural Department at Wash
ington states it has not yet been deter
mined how the plant will bear cultiva-
ton and propagation, and the depart
ment is now gathering the seeds and
roots to experiment with next year. As
the okra now grows luxuriantly in all
parts of the South, the production of it
even in the large quantities which
would be required in case the fiber comes
into general use will not probably prove
a serious barrier to progress in this di-
rection, while the well-knoyi, inventive
genius of Americans can be depended |
upon to devise machinery for preparing
the fiber, and to make constant improve
ments upon it.-Farmers' Home Journal.