The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1894-08-31
BAST FIBERS.
THE UxcUL HWTED OWES or THE UNITED
STATES.
Tho U. s. Department of Agriculture Issue
Something Ysry INTERESTING on Fiber
Culture.

this genus is the "hemp-like Hibiscus"
(H. canna6inus). The plant is
native of the East Indies, and at pres.
ent is largely cultivated for fiber
throughout India, tho product being
almost wholly utilized by the agricul-
tural classes where grown as sub
stitute for hemp. It's common names
are Ocean hemp and Ambari hemp, the
latter particularly in western India.
In Madres it is called Palusgoo.2 Its
the Mossta plant Of Bengal and De-
ckanee hemp Of Bombay. The San
skirt name is Nalika. The plant has a
prickly stem, the leaves deeply parted,
and the stem attains height of to 8
feet. The fiber is described as soft,
white, and silky, and by some writer's
Is said to be more durable than jute.
Though thriving at all seasons Of the
year, it is generally cultivated in the
cold season. The seeds are sown as
thickly as hemp, in rich, loose soil, and
1t requires about three months growth
before it is ready to be pulled for
watering" and dressing, the mode of
treatment being the sam as that given
the sum hemp, Crotaiaria junccd.
Full-grown plants that have ripened
their seed furnished stronger fiber than
the plants cut while in flower, through
the fibers of this species are mare -o
marka5ia for their fneness than for
strength.
In harvesting, the plants are either
cut close to the ground or pulled up
by the roots, as the lower portion OF
1, &la
stalks are submerged in water and
allowed the remain from six to ten days,
according to the weather, when the
bark can be readily peeled by the
hand. Too long stepping, while il
makes white fiber, results in a loss of
strength.
In report Of tho Revenue and
Agricultural Department of India
another account is given, as follows:
The fiber is prepared by bundling
the stalks, which, after q few days, are
stepped for nearly a week in water
under stones; when sufficiently rcttcl
they are cleaned by beating them on
the ground, the fiber stripped of,
washed, and dried. Five hundred
stems, about 8 feet high, as grown Ell
masse in gardens, were recently taken
at random and the fiber removed and
cleaned in the usual way; the result
was ST pounds clean and good fiber.
Tho stems when carefully dried
weighed nearly 20 pounds. Assuming
the acre to be 40, 900 square feet after
allowing the waste patches, the num-
Der of stems at 3 inches apart would
be GAO, 900, hence the yield in clean
fiber at pound per 100 would be g.
400 pounds, equal to Ct tons; the
stems''would yield also IL tons OF poor
fuel. The yield of three fine stems
grown along the ridges in turmeric
plantations, and measuring Is to II
feet high, was 81 ounce of clean fiber,
or somewhat over / ounce each, instead
of one-sixth of an ounce. The dried
stems each weighed 5 ounces instead
of less than three-fourths of an ounce.
AS to uses, coarse sack kcloth is made
from its fiber in India sometimes
called gunny fiber), though its chief
employment is for ropes and cordage,
it being the common cordage of the
country in few districts. Coarse
canvas is also made from it. In Bengal
it is employed at the present time for
all the purposes OF jute, and also for
making fish nets and paper. Netillart
says:
The fiber of H. cannaJinus is stiff
and brittle, and has no superiority
over jute, and it is very inferior to
that of India hemp or sum. The
leaves of the plant are eaten as a pot
herb in many ports of India, the taste
being pleasantly acid, not unlike
sorrel.
The fibers of carefully prepared Am
bari are from to 6 feet long. Com
pared with ordinary hemp they are
paler brown, harsher, adhere closer
together, though divisible into fine
fibrils, possessed of considerable
strength Its tenacity tested with
sum is as 115 to 130.
In the Kew Bulletin for August,
1891, tho announcement is made of
the discovery, on the shores Of the
Caspian, of new commercial fiber
plant, known as Kanaff, the fiber of
which, "from its abundance and con
sequent cheapness, and its extraordin.
ary durability, will successfully COM
pete with any other textile for sackiug,
ropes, and pack thread" with "a
greater resistance than hemp" The
plant is thought to be hibiscus can-
nabinus, the Ocean hemp plant of
India.
Hibiscus spiendcns (Hollyhock
tree). Fiber from this species,a native
of Queensland and New South Wales,
is exhibited in the museum of the
Department, prepared by DR.. w. Z.
Guilfoyle, director of the Melbourne
Botanic Gardens, who states that the
species liz a splendid tree, growing to
the height of 20 feet or more. "It is
very pubcscent, bearing large pink
flowers resembling hollyhocks in size
and appearance The fiber is suitable
for cordage, fish lines, paper, etc.
Fiber of HjdiScuS SorbifOiia and mutn-
biis was also received from DIR. Gull
foylc, through the exhibition of 1876.
Both of these species arcindigcnous in
Queensland. m. mufubjHS is n native
of China, but growsin India and other
eastern localities. Fiber Of III. hcirucus
was also received with the above, but