Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1890-03-19
THE OKRA FIBER.
Its Claims as q Satisfactory Substitutes for
! Jute and R0unloa

Its Claims as a satisfac Glory Substitutes for
. Jute and Ramle.
For several years various experiments
have been made with okra fiber, and re-
Gently the Departmental Agriculture has
been furnished with beautiful specimens
of it, but little has been known of its
availability for the manufacture of cheap
products. An Edgefield County planter
recently sent the State Department of
Agriculture a sample Of okra fiber as
glossy and strong as ramie. The de-
partnent sent the specimen to the Ma
tional Department at Washington. Sec
rotary Rusk, in acknowledging its re-
ceipt, says that the specimen is a very
fair one, that letters from all parts of
the South indicate a general inclination
to substitute the okra fiber for iute, not
only for cotton bagging but for all pur-
poses for which jute is used. Secretary
Rusk is very anxious to know the proc
ess Of preparing the fiber. Now comes
Mr.. w. E. Sudlow with the assertion
that he can produce it at O cost not
creator than about one cent per pound.
Mr.. Sudlow is an Englishman, born in
Oldham, raised in Manchester, who has
large experience in textiles. He is a
practical engineer and machinist, and
has put up mills in England, France,
Australia and Mexico, Mr.. Sudlow
has been in this State for two years,
during which time he tells the depart
ment he has been looking into the okra
fiber question, and has now reached
such conclusions as assure him of It's
cheap production. He says that tho
pto1 40 io11
the jute, cotton and ramie in this, that
the wood surrounds the fiber, while in
the others it is mixed with it. and this
is the key Of the problem of cheap pro-
duction. His experiments last summer
and fall prove that the okra fiber and
wood are naturally separated. The mix
ing Of the fiber with the wood of jute,
ramie and cotton makes it necessary to
employ manual labor, chiefly to decorti-
cate it, and this is so costly that only in
India and China, where labor Is excess
sively cheap, is it possible to produce
the fiber at low prices. The okra, on
the contrary, can be separated by ma
chinery.
Mr.. Sudlow declares that he can make
machine which will not cost more than
IN ordinary cotton gin, and which can
10 employed, as gina are employed, On
each large farm or in each neighbor-
hood, and that by its use planters of
okra can turn out their fiber and sell it
as they do cotton for 50 much O pound.
Into this machine the okra stalks will
be fed, butts forward, and 1t will cut
the wood from the fiber. BY means Of
an ingenious device, which Mr.. Sudlow
has explained to your correspondent
more fully than he cares the public to
know, the strips Of fiber and wood will
be separated, the glutin will then be
removed from the fiber by simple
process, and, after drying, the latter
will be ready for the market. Mr.. Sud-
low is now making arrangements for the
manufacture of an initial set of machin-
cry, which will practically demonstrate
the truth of his assertions.
AS to the quality Of the fiber, there is
not the least doubt. It is long, strong
and glossy. 1t can be so subdivided
that 1T can be used like ramle for tho
making of cloth for personal wear, as we'll
as for bagging, rope, etc. The cheapness
of its growing need not be argued about.
Abandoned rice fields in the low country
would raise forests of it, 1t thrives in
undrained lands. The quantity which
can BIO raised on an aero must be con-
sidered only by the ton, and the fiber
constitutes most of the stalk, the wood
and bark being very thin and papery.
The stalks need not DO cut at any spec
ial time. They can be allowed to lie in
the field before the fiber Is extracted
Columbia Is. c. Letter.
"A wrong and over-indulgent conduct