, 1890-07-12
Miscellaneous Fibres.

Botanical Department in the Bulletin for
May.
MIR. Cross sets out by stating the appars
emily obvious, but by no means generally
recognized, principle that the industrial
and commercial scOpel and purposes of the
various vegetable fbreS can be extended
only by scientific methods, and that tile
Numerous attempts to utilize many plant
flores ending in disappointment aud
FAILURE, nave been mainly due to Il non
recognition of their chemical composition,
the ma ure Of the treatment reQHlltd for
perIecting them, and the pun for
which the individual groups are fitted.
Had this knowledge been applied, many
Improbable undertakings would never
have been commenced.
We must premise that the fhres of
plants consist of tubes or elongated cells
of a spindle like shape or more technically
,fusiform. The walls OF these tubes are
thickened, and by which great strength is
impaired, by deposits of layers of Cellu-
lose and SclerOgen. Now the strength of
the fbres of different plants varies. Thus
New Zealand fax, PhOrmium T6RGT, is Of
much greater t~enacity than common hemp,
while Pita Flax-A ga De americana, is less
IcnaciO S than this last. COtIOn on the
other hand is made UP Of elongated hairs
the nrtNbrane of which after drying
appears twisted under the micr Oscope. The
uses to which these two varieties of fibre
are applicable must, II is Ob vlouS, be DIS
tiuct and special.
Mr.. Cross points out that these vegetai
ble fbres "group themselves industrially
Accord ng to their applications and draws
atten tiOil to the interesting fact that this
industrial grouping follows not "A little
their ply Biological classification. 1t may
therefore be said that their functions are,
industrially, in direct and harmonious
relations with their morphOlOgy. MIR.
Gross alludes to the very limited number.
OF flores which cave been utilized as sta
pies Of textile industries. He asks ."Es
there necessity for an extended applica-
ton of the multitudinous vegetable flores 7
Whether those that have been subjected
to treatment at our hands are sufficient
in vaii6t5 for all the possible purposes of
such textiles. And lastly, surprising such
supply be admittedly insufficient, is the
remedy 10 be sought in improved methods
of treating the raw material available, or
in the introduction OF new ones 70
questions of this kind says the Author of
the paper; science can give direct answers.
He gives the per cehtAge of c~eflulOse in
the more i'm p6rtant textile fbres / G. fax,
hemp, rhea and iute, which are all, he says,
phiSlol0gically identical The vegetable
fhreS Of the monOcOtyledOns which furnish
the materials for ropes, have their fla
mtnts larger, coarser, and are of more
complex structure. These are the MANILA,
from Musa t~extilis, Phormium; New Zea:
land fax, belonging to the Liliaceae, and
Agave already alluded to as the producer
of Pita Flax. Mr.. Cross divides the textile
flores into poetic and Rgnifed, the former
forming a jelly.like or 6Oagulable pulp, the
latter having more woody fibre aud less
Gel lulose. The Poetic include the first
NAMED group, beginning with Flax, The
lignified with Manila.
Those fbreS which are not available for
textile manufacture, and of which paper
alone can be made, are next considered.
These are Bamboo, Straw, and Esparto
Grass. ..r a.
Above all fbres for textile, fabrics Mr..
Gross gives the FIRST place to Flax, for as
he sayS-''Ets many sided superiority"
over all the others. He recommends
caution in dealing with 'new problems in
fibre commerce." to the exclusion of the
cIrimS Of those OF long established usage.
Canada, New Zealand, and the Australian
Colonies sent exhibits. In the production
of wood pulp for paper making he con-
sidered Canada will, in the future, be we'll
to the front. And it is this part of the
subject that concerns MS much, and the
application of which, in view of our COM
ing Exhibition is all important. We