MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 99 



in any quantity for the trouble of gathering, yet no one seems to- 

 regard it." 



Another important fibre-producing plant is the Bromelia pen- 

 guin, from which the surprisingly beautiful Manilla handkerchiefs 

 are made, as well as the celebrated " Pigna " cloth, an Indian 

 fabric commanding always an extreme fancy price. This is a 

 kind of wild pine-apple said to be exceedingly abundant. 



The late Mr. Temple, formerl}'^ Chief Justice of British Hon- 

 duras, some years since exhibited a quantity of this fibre to the 

 Societ}^ of Arts, calling it silk grass. 



Mr. Wray says we may search the world through and not find 

 another plant capable of yielding so rich, so abundant a supply 

 of a fibre which in quality cannot be excelled, and that it is a 

 plant which we may look to, to provide us with a large amount 

 of the very best quality of fibre. 



The fibre alluded to can be grown exceedingly cheap, and it 

 is asserted that the manufacture involves no diflS.culty. The fibre 

 is said to be separated by a machine constructed somewhat on the 

 principle of the threshing machine, the plant being passed, at a 

 slow rate along a platform having a yielding surface, through 

 rollers and beaters ; and, when this is done with the plant in a 

 gi'een state, it comes out at the other end of the machine very 

 good fibre, which is improved by repeating the operation. A 

 stream of water is used to wash the pulp away as it is expressed 

 from the fibre. 



Among cordage fibres there is the nettle and the canna : the 

 latter often growing 14 feet high. Tiie whole stalk and leaf are 

 said to be one mass of fibre ; and the root furnishes a species of 

 arrow-root said to be the most nutritious of all the starches. 



It is thought that some if not all of these plants can be grown 

 in Europe, and if so they ought to thrive in parts of the United 

 States. It is not a just inference that because a plant is a native 

 of a tropical clime it will not thrive in temperate climates. 

 Though this may be the rule, there are numerous exceptions. 

 Our Commissioner of Agriculture would do the countiy a service 

 b}^ obtaining and distributing the seeds of these plants in sections 

 most favorable to their growth, if he has not already done so. 

 We are far from believing the vegetable kingdom contributes to 

 the wealth %f mankind all, or nearly all, it is capable of doing. 

 It is within the memory of yet young men, that the tomato was 

 considered a useless vegetable ; yet to-day there is probably no 

 fruit grown in this country — if we e:Xcept the apple — more 

 generally used and esteemed. It is quite probable that many 

 plants indigenous to our soil possess fibre which would be of 

 great service, if properly worked. Among those which seem 

 most promising are some of the '* Asclepias''^ family, popularly 

 known as *' milkweeds," •' silkweeds," and so forth. The plants 

 are large, rapid and thrifty growers, and their pods contain a 

 large amount of cotton-like fibre, which, though it might not be 

 sufiiciently strong for textile fabrics, would make, we think, ex- 

 cellent paper stock. 



