The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-05-07
THE OKRA PLANT.
1t Is Likely 10 Take Prominent Place In
tho Future.

1t Is Likely 10 Take o Prominent Place In
tho Future.
There seems to be strong proba-
bility that the plant known as okra
(Abelmoschus esculentus) will be
made to furnish valuable fiber. This
plant grows wild all through the
Southern States, and has been known
for years to farmers and stockmen as
capable Of producing Il very strong
fiber, which in Texas and other local
tiles is now used for making lariats-
Ten years ago the Department OF
Agriculture had samples of the plant
grown in in it's greenhouses, and a
report was made on the quality of the
fiber. but nothing seems to have come
of it. Recently, however, the subject
has been revived, and the Commits
sionec of Agriculture Of South Caro-
lima, Col. A. T. 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 Nj,
Butler through the department at
Washington shows long, strong and
glossy thread somewhat resembling
hemp, though darker in color. Tho
fruit which this okra plant produces
is priced rs q vegetable, the mucia-
ginous pods being used for thickening
soup and to form a 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, notably Cuba, where it
grows in almost all soils, and is IN
digenous to Africa, where it grows
wild. It is abundant on the White
Nile and near the Victoria NyanZa,
and has long been naturalized III IL
dia, where it is cultivated for its edi-
bic pods. The fiber which has been
produced abroad is described rs long
and silky and generally strong and
plant, its breaking strain according
to Roxburg being seventy-nine pounds
dry and ninety-tive pounds wet. When
well prepared, as III the Southern
Presidency of India, it is adapted for
manufacture of rope, twlne, sacklng
and paper 1t is used to adulterute
jute in Decca and Mymensmg. In
France the manufacture of paper
from the tiber is patented, and here it
receives only mechanical treatment
and produces a paper called banda
which IL said to be equal to that made
from pure lags-
It is claimed for the okra fiber,
that, inasmuch as the wood surrounds
the fiber instead OF being mixed with
it, as in iute, and also that the work
of preparation can be done by ma
chinery, the cost OF production can be
reduced to one cent per pound. Jute
can only be proftably produced in
countries where manual labor is very
cheap, ms in India and China, because
no lnschine has been devised for sep
arating the wood from the fiber. Vast
quantities of lute are imported by the
United States, and it is used in max
ing gunny cloth, cordage, shirtins,
coat Innings, and it is extensively emu
ployed in mixing with silk, cotton and
woolen fabrlcs, and i'll paper making.
It is believed that okra fiber can be
substituted for jute in the coarser OF
these lines of manufacture, and some
even claim tnnt it viii be found avail
able wherever jute il new employed.
It is easily to be seen from this that
if the okra fiber stands the test OF
further experiment, a new and most
important industry will spring into
being. The Agricultural Department
ut Washington states it has not yet
been determined how the plant will
bear cultivation and propagation, and
the department is now gathering the
| seeds and roots to experiment with
next year. As the okra now grows
luxuliartly in all parts of the. South,
the production OF it even in the large
quantities which would be required
in case the tiper comes into general
use will not probably prove serious
barrier to progress IN this direction,
while the well known inventive genius
OF Americans can be depended upon
to devise machinery for preparing the
fiber. and to make constant improve
ments upon it.-St. Louis Home
journal.
Burned to Death.
ATLANTA, CO., April 30.-Aiss Fan
tniesWalaer, ayoung lady residing on
Fair Street, was burned to death this
afternoon. She was cooking dinner