The Devils Lake world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1920-1982, 1920-08-18
HAS WEALTH0
F|bROUS PLANTS
Decline of Coffee and Rubber
Trade Brings Revival of Old
Industry in Brazil.
GOVERNMENT AIDS IN TESTS
More Than 100 Varieties Furnish Ma
teria' for Jute, Brushes, Hats and
cordage-country Has Enor.
/ Gus Resources.

. nous resources.
Observation-Disclosures, although GOV.
cred with tibrous plants, imports S5,-
100000 worth of jute and Indian hemp
annually. The traveller, who watches a
long line of c%argadores staggering un-
der the weight of bags Of coffee in the
port of Santos, has only to turn his
glasses toward the neighboring hills to
see some Of the best specimens Of fiber
yielding plants.
The answer is simple. The country
Is so huge and at the same time so un-
derpopulated that all of it's
will not be developed for years to
come. The recent announcement that
the federal government was ready 10
receive 4O.OOO,OOO immigrants will give
some idea Of the existing ratio of the
population Of this South American
state to its area.
Lately, with the decline Of the rub
Der industry, caused by the difficulty
In competing with the rubber planta-
lions of the far East, and since coffee
raising has become less profitable be-
cause of overplanting, the country has
turned its attention to the commercial
value Of t1brous plants, and their devel-
opment has begun to attract the atten-
ton of investors. Nearly every Bra
lillian is familiar with their fibers, and
an insistent propaganda has begun for
their exploitation. The government is
assisting, and experiments have deveI-
oped several fbers Of assured CONNER
cial value. some Of which are described
In a bulletin of the Pan-American
Union as follows:
Only Fiber Exported.
THE only fiber that figures among
Brazilian exports to the United States
is plassava, a kind of hairy, pliable
bark. One company has 100000 trees
on Its property north of Bahia City /;
another important source of supply Is
the valley of the Rio Preto, in northern
Bahia. The tibers measure from 8 10 Is
feet in length, the longer ones being
used in making ropes and Irvine and
the heavier, coarser kinds cut into
short strips for a number of uses, chief
of which are the manufacture Of
brOoms, brushes, hats and, to a limited
extent, sandals.
1.-THE expectation of this fiber from
Bahia and Ilheos to the United States
and Europe, as we'll as other parts of
Brazil and South America, is increas-
lns yearly as new applications are
found for it. In the United States it
Is used only in the manufacture Of
snow sweepers that are supplied to
street car companies.
The traveller sailing up the straits
that lead into the picturesque little
Bay Of Victoria, will notice what at
first glance appear to be bundles Of
huge broadswords tied together at the
handles and pointing in every direc-
ton. A closer examination reveals
these bundles as green bushes, the
roots OF which must certainly be past
ed against the sides of the cliffs to
keep the plant from falling into the
water. A common stalk cannot be de-
tected and, in fact, does not exist, the
bush being simply a collection Of NAM
moth leaves, from ten to twelve feet
long, that sprout independently from
a single root
1T is the piteira, q cousin Of the
famous agave Of the Philippines, which
has the distinction Of being the first
ibrous plant to be cultivated by Euro
peans in Brazil, where the first Portu-
guese %cOlOnists found the Indians
gathering the leaves Of this plant for
use in the making of moccasins. The
plants require from four to six years
to mature, but live from twelve to six.
which lives from ten to twelve years
The fiber is lighter than Indian heml
and finer than h%ennequen from Yucca.
tan.
Spectacular History.
"Aramina, or guaxima toxa, has
rather spectacular history. Repeated
experiments in Africa, India and Bra
I'll so encouraged botanists in the lat
ter country that an intense propagan
da for the manufacture Of coffee bag
from this plant was begun and result
ed in the building Of a factory in Sa'
Panic for that purpose.
although the factory attained Al
output Of 10000 bags a year, an,
found ready, enthusiastic buyers, din
culties so increased that after a fev
years Of operation the factory was de
voted exclusively to the manufactur
OF bags from jute. The failure was no
due to the poor quality Of the bags, bu
rather to the lack of cooperation
among the planters.
~In addition to aramina, which In 81
periof to jute. Brazil can boast Of N
other hbrous plant growing wild in tn
central part Of the country which,
cultivated and used in the manufa.
ture Of bags would eliminate the Ii
dian product from the list Of her In
portA. It Is the Papoula de Sac Fral
cisco sometimes called Perrin Abe
from Its once supposed d~iscoverer. Th
lnbeTs have the qualities Of linen IN
hemp with certain advantages
printing aid dyeing.
These represent only 6bers Of big
n~n~u.rrfal value and do NOT iac1ude