Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1920-07-15
HAS WEALTH OF
FIBROUS PLANTS
Decline of Coffee and Rubber
Trade Brings Revival of Old
Industry in Brazil.
GOVERNMENT AIDS m TESTS
More Than 100 Varieties Furnish M
teriaI for Jute, Brushes, Hats ane
cordage-country Has Enor.
nous Resources.

Washington.-Brazil. although co.,
cred with fibrous plants, Imports So
OO0,O0O worth of jute and Indian hemp
annually. The traveller. who watches .
long line of cargad0res staggering I'M
der the weight OF bags of coffee In the
port of Santos, has only to turn his
glasses toward the neighboring hills tc
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 I'M
derpopulated that AL of its resources
will not be develop Il for years to
come. The recent aIlnoG cement that
the federal government WAS ready TO
receive 4U0U0,0O 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-
tons Of the far East, and since cOtfe'.
raising has become less profitable be-
cause Of overplanting, the country hiss
turned It's attention to the commercial
value Of fihrous plants, and their devel-
0pment has begun to attract the atten-
ton of investors. Nearly every Bra.
lillian Is familiar with their fbers, and
an insistent propaganda has begun for
their exploitation. The government is
assisting. and experiments have devel-
oped several tibers of assured CONNER.
cial value, some of which are described
in bulletin of the Pan-American
Union as follows:
Only Fiber Exported.
1.-THE only fiber that figures amo,
Brazilian exports TO the United States
is plaSSava, a kind of hairy. pliable
bark. One company has 6,0OO,OOO trees
on its property north of Bahia City;
another important source of supply 8
the valley of the Rio PretO, in northern
Bahia. The fibers measure from to 5
feet in length, the longer ones being
used In making ropes and Irvine and
the heavier, coarser kinds cut into
short strips for number of uses, chief
of which are the manufacture of
brooms, brushes, hats and to limited
extent, sandals
1.-THE expectation of this fiber from
Bahia and Ilheos to the United States
and Europe, as well as other parts Of
Brazil and South America, Is ncreas-
ing yearly as new applications are
found for 1t. In the United States Il
Is used only in the manufacture Of
snow sweepers that are supplied 10
street car companies.
"rhe 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, tie
roots of which must certainly be past
ed against the sides Of the cliffs to
keep the plant from falling into the
water common stalk cannot be de-
tected and, in fact, does not exist, the
bush being simply collection of mann
moth sleaves, from ten to twelve feet
long, that sprout independently from
single root.
at is the piteira, a cousin of the
famous agave of the Philippines, which
has the distinction of being the first
fbrous 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
teen years, in comparison with sisal
which lives from ten to twelve years.
The fiber Is lighter than Indian hemp
and finer than hennequen from Yucca
tan.
Spectacular History.
"Aramina, or guaxima toxa, has a
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 bags
from this plant was begun and result.
| ed In the building of factory in Sac
Pa'ilo for that purpose.
although the factory attained al
output of 100000 bags year, an
found ready, enthusiastic buyers, diff
culties so increased that after few
years of operation the factory was d."
voted exclusively to the manufactur:
of bags from jute. The failure was ao1
due to the poor quality of the bags, bu
rather to. the lack of cooperation
among the planters.
AIN addition to aramina, which Is su
perior to jute, Brazil can boast of an
other ibrous plant growing wild In thu
central part of the country which, Il
cultivated and used in the manufac
ture of bags would eliminate the In
dian product from the list of her i'm
ports 1t is the PapOula de Sac Fran
cisco sometimes called Perrin fbel
from Its once supposed discoverer. The
fibers have che qualities Of linen s2'
hemp with certain advantages II
printing and dyeing.
"These represent only fbers of higl
commercial value and do not include I
hundred other species that grow IL
Brazil. Uses for the others VII h'
found later"