The mirror., 1919-09-11
4GlAI0E RETOFORE deemed
worthless and on par
B9SS@RN with the ugly cacti and
R!g9Mg gU other hispid grOwths of

bfYGgE worthless and on a par
H9sS@E with the ugly cacti and
l24z!y other hispid growths of
the waste places, the yucca. Span
ish bayonet' or Spanish dagger"
of southwestern Americas desert
and mountain regions is become a
figure in the economic world. 1t
promises to revolutionize the bin
der-twine industry; to be the
source here at home of highly
important commodity which now
has to be brought from other
countries for manufacture-fber.
During the past season it entered
into the bands that held millions OF
sheaves of our war harvest. In
Los Angeles a plant of consider
able proportions built up in a COM
paratively short time is success
fully converting yucca spines into
fiber of high quality, so good that
only experts can distinguish it
from the sisal product. 1t is
equally tough and pliable and pos
sibly excels in tensile strength.
The unique mill is owned and
operated by F. J. Bingham and A.
G. Brown, who originated and
developed the interesting pro-
cesses, partly secret, carried out
there. After a long period of ex-
perimental activity they attained a
practical basis Is months ago and
have since been steadily shipping
IS tons a month of their product
to Chicago. They employ so men
and women, about two-thirds OF
these in the field, and are arrang-
ing to erect a large plant on the
desert in the vicinity of Victor
vile, Calf, in proximity to vast
quantities of the raw material.
Thirty-fve tons of fiber is an in
fnitesimal proportion of the
monthly consumption, but the in
dustry is in it's infancy. The field
is immense and the "crop" un-
limited. Already another Los
Angeles concern contemplates a
similar enterprise near Kingman,
Ariz., and still others are taking
hold. The base of our binder
twine now is the sisal mainly from
Yucatan. With it the fiber from
the yucca has been mixed year
and half by the heaviest manu-
facturer in the world.
Shipped in from the nearest
available source the spines, veri-
table bayonets as sharp as the
finest needle and ranging from not
under % to 40 inches in length,
and tied in bundles of rs pounds,
are packed in large steel crates and
subjected to patented chemical
boiling process in deep watts. This
eliminates certain acids and rem
ders the strong, stiff leaves soft
and plant. It requires but a short
time. Then they are run through
the decorticating machine, or
separator, an intricate two-ton
crushing and segregating mechan-
ism with semblance of human in
telligence, which takes the fiber
from the pulp. This contrivance
is fed by woman, carrier TAX
ing up the leaves one by one, and
the fiber being similarly delivered
into another woman's hands at the
opposite end. The operation ap-
pears slow and tedious but an
average of more than two and a
half tons of spines goes through in
day and the net yield is a little
over a ton of fiber.
After leaving the separator the
fiber is cleaned on roller machines
by woman operatives and then run
on the outdoor drying racks for
bleaching. Here southern Cali
fornia sunshine is a most effective
agency and a money saver. It dis
poses of the moisture in a few
hours, changes the color from
black to tan, and the fiber is ready