The Opelousas courier., 1894-06-30

THE USE OF 0DlI FlBERS
r ss5s=4s; 6: e: :j(E$;' s* Ell:
Production of Pineapple Fiber-Cul-
tivation of Sisal Hemp-The Re-
markable Ramie.
T7HE Government is making
great efforts to create a pop
ular interest in American
z fbers. OF such materials in
the raw the United States imports
$50, 900, 900 worth annually, though it
is reckoned that one-half of that
Quantity could be produced in this
country just as. well. The other halt
is derived from vegetable species
which could not be cultivated profit
ably here, climate and soil being un-
suitable. Seeing immense profits
ahead, inventors and capitalists are
turning their attention to the making
of machinery for obtaining fbers from
various plants which the farmers will
supply as soon as manufacturers de-
mand them. Meanwhile Uncle Sam
is circulating information far and wide
on the subject, telling what kinds OF
leaves and stalks will yield the most
suitable stuff for cordage, Irvine and
| all sorts of textile fabrics.
The fiber bureau at Washington,
Under the direction Of Expert Charles
Richards Dodge, has great hopes Of
the pineapple as q fiber producer in
this country. In Florida the fruit is
grown on d large scale, btt the leaves
are thrown away-thousands Of tons
of them annually. It is Il frightful
waste, for they can be made to yield
one of the most valuable ibers known.
In India pineapple fiber is woven int
the MOST delicate of all vegetable
fabrics-the celebrated ''pina:" The
latter looks like gossamer and is so
| light that it will almost float in the
| air when tossed up. For making it
the fibers are laboriously separated by
hand, the ends being glued together
SO as to make a continuous thread.
| They can be spun like flax. At the
same time, they are wonderfully
strong, and there is record of an inch
rope formed of them that stood a
strain of 800 pounds before breaking.
The cultivation of another plant
namely, sisal hemp-for the fiber
yielded by its leaves is already promis-
ing to develop into d great industry in
Florida. Every year we import from
| Yucatan IS; 900. 600 worth of this kind
of fiber, which can be produced just
as we'll and of better quality in the
Peninsular State, south Of the frost
line. The sisal grows readily in the
| poorest and rockiest soil, which can
not be farmed %proftably for anything
else. Apart from its commercial
value, it is one of the most interesting
plants in the world. It is a bush of
huge green bayonet-shaped leaves.
When about six years old it sends up
from its middle with great rapidity a
stalk o mast twenty-five feet high and
three inches in diameter. From the
upper half of this stalk small branches
grow out, each branch bearing tulip
shaped blossoms. The flowers do not
smell pleasantly, their odor being de-
scribed as resembling the bouquet ola
mouse in an advanced stage of de-
composition under the floor. Pres
emily the blossoms wither, the petals
drop of, and in their place leaves APP
pear. Within a few days, where each
flower was, a complete little sisal plant
has developed, attached to an ex-
tremity of the parent stem. When
mature it drops to the ground, and, if
it manages to come into contact with
the mother earth, proceeds to take
root and become a growth like its
progenitor. This method of reproduc-
tion is found in no plant save the sisal
and a few of it's near relatives. As
many as 1000 small plants may be
gathered from a single stalk as they
ripen. They are remarkably tenacious
of life and will retain their vitality for
months out of the ground. Plantations
of slsal practically take care of them
selves. The fiber yielded by the
leaves is superb material for cordage,
binding-twine and other purposes.
Ramie is the most remarkable of the
new fber-produclng plants. It's Guilt
walton it likely to become eventually
n of the foremost agricultural indus
tries of the United States. All that is
required to bring this about is a sat
isfactory machine for separating the
fiber economically. No continuance
that will accomplish this cheaply has
as yet been devised. Consequently
the stuff is nowhere produced on a
commercial basis at present, except in
Japan, where labor is procurable for
next to nothing. The Japanese sepa-
rate the fiber by hand and dry it on
the roofs Of their houses. One man
can thus prepare two pounds q day.
The plant belongs to the nettle fam
lily, and is sometimes called the sssting-
less nettle." It is also known as China
grass, having been cultivated in that
country from time immemorial. The
fiber is in the bark of the stalk, which
has a pithy centre. Il is very beau
tiful, light, strong as silk and will not
mildew. From it all sorts Of exquis-
tie fabrics are made, counterfeiting
silk and the finest linen, as we'll as
laces for curtains, muslins, dress
goods, pushes and handsome and ser
viceab1e carpets. It has been sur-