The Opelousas courier., 1893-05-13
EFlBERS AND THEIR USES.
CURIOUS WAYS IN WHICH,
ARE MADE TO YIELO FABRICS.
IN beautiiui Lace Made From Bitter
Aloe Leaves-Fiber Exhibitions
at the Worlds Fair

kk ~ rtAlO prospect IS In view
kA for the development of a
IN new industry in this coun.
6 try by making use of the f.
bers of pineapple leaves for weavins.n
said Special Agent Charles Richards
Dodge of the Department of Agriculture.
"Pineapples, you know, are largely grown
In Florida. If the thousands of tons of
leaves which now are thrown away could
be utilized commercially the profits of
the planters would be very much in
creased. Fabrics made from pineapple
fibre are the most delicate in the world.
They look like gossamer and will almost
float in the air. The fibre is one of the
finest known in the vegetable kingdom.
It's employed to a considerable extent
IN India, but Is too costly to serve for
ordinary purposes. In that country tie
pineapple fibres are laborlonsly separated
by hand, the ends of them being glued
together to make continuous threads.
"Leaf ibres may be called the bones
of the leaves. They support and keep
In shape the feshy vegetal structure.
To separate the fbres the leaves are
usually crushed, beaten and washed in
water, thus separating the pulpy parts
and leaving the skeletal system. The
skeletal portions of the leaves of many
plants serve for weaving into fabrics,
and these are called leaf fbers. OF course,
other commercial fbers are obtained
from plant stalks, as ia the case of hemp
and ramie. The fiber known as
cotton is an envelope which nature pro-
vides for the protection of the cotton
seed. By cultivation the quantity of this
fiber contained In each seed boil is great
ly increased.
'Manlla hemp is a variety of the
banana. The Spanish moss, which hangs
IN festoons from trees In the South, be.
long to the same order as the pineapple.
This moss is also utilized as a CONNER
cial fiber. It is treated in masses with
chemicals, which rot off it's outer cover
ing or bark. After being dried it looks
like horsehair and is called vegetable
hair The Spanish moss is commonly
described as a parasitic plant, being
supposed to thrive at the expense of the
trees on which it grows; but that is a
mistake. It is really an eplphyte-in
other words, an air plant, deriving its
~sustenance from the air and not from the
tree. It is apt to injure the tree, nor
OF. less, by smothering the buds, and it
is most luxuriant on dying or dead trees,
because its own growth is not interfered
with by foliage.
"Some of the most beautiful lace in
the world, known as sFayal lace, is
made in the Azores from the fbers of
bitter aloe leaves. This plant is allied
10 the century plant. The lace is man
1factured by women and such a high
order of skill is required to produce it
That only about twenty-five women on
The island are able to make it, having
oracticed the art from childhood. The
greater part of the product is sold in
Paris, where it brings an enormous price.
The ordinary century plant yields fiber
that is used in Mexico largely for cord
age mats, paper and other purposes.
Yet another kind of agave, called the
'ixtle,' affords a fiber which is imported
N considerable quantities into this
country for use iinstead of bristles for
making brushes.S The finest quality
;etches as much as $500 q ton. This
plant is not cultivated, but grows wild
On the arid table lands, where no other
living thing can find moisture enough to
,ustain existence.
ave import 81, OUU, 900 worth of leaf
ibers annually, a large part of which
ought to be grown in the United States.
at present experiments are being made
with the culture of ramie and sisal hemp
n this country. Both are very valuable
iber plants. Sisal is a growth Of huge
green bayonet-shaped leaves When i
S mature it sends up with great rapidity
4 central stalk twenty-five feet high
From the upper half of this stalk sinai
branches grow out bearing ulip-shaped
blossoms. PresetEy the blossoms wither,
the petals drop off, and in their place
leaves appear. Within a few days wher
zach flower has been a complete little
.isal plant has developed, attached to
shbranch of the parent stem. When it
matured it drops upon the ground ant
takes root if it can. This is a metho'
Of reproduction found in no other plan
ave the sisal and a few of its near rela
lives. Large tracts Of sisal hemp ar
found in south Florida, descending from
paintings made at various times within
tba mast fifty wears. There is an allie
sDecies, known as the false slsai, Wnlcs
grows wild in many places along IN
Florida coast, sometimes forming, to.
pether with the Spanish bayonet AM
prickly pear, ~impenetrable thickets.
uThe Office of fiber investigation ]
this department will exhibit at tn
worlds Fair a large assemblage of ia
, br;cs. ETC., made from ramic fiber. a
present the commercial supply of rami
Is obtained mosttyfron- China, but e
forts are being made grow It =
France, California and OTHER partsof tn
world. There is no difficulty N cult
yating it, inasmuch as it is n OF IL
most prolific Of plants, BIT the dlflcul'
thus far has been to ind way of separa
ing the fiber cheaply enough to De pro
table. Ranie belongs to the nett
family, being sometimes called 7
,stingless nettle.' It is also known
China grass, having been cultivated :
] that country from time immemorial. III
Rber Is formed in the bark OF the 'stalR