Januarv I, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



463 



ou account of health. Your Committee believe it will be 

 fountl, on investigation, that the general health, both of ani- 

 mal and vegetable life, is not nearly so good in those 

 countries where one article only is chiefly grown as in 

 those where crops are various ; and the reasons are too ob- 

 vious to require more than this general allusion. It may be 

 as well here to call attention to this important considera- 

 tion — the general effect of vicissitudes in the growth of fibre 

 plants isthat a diminution in size is accompanied by increased 

 fineness of fibre ; the number of fibres remaining constant. 



We now come to the preparation of the fibre; and con- 

 sidering that this onterprize is, at present, experimental, 

 your Committee is of opinion, that if planters agree to plant 

 the Fc/urcioi/a, it is as much as at present they can be ex- 

 pected to do 



Your Committee, therefore, think that the preparation 

 should be the work of a company ; so that in case of its not 

 answering expectations, no great loss would be sustained by 

 any one intlividual. Doubtless Dr. Sutherland would assist 

 in developing this enterprize, as his public spirit in such 

 matters is well-known. Fortunately, there will be no diffic- 

 ulty in forming such a company. In order that there maj' 

 be no dela3' or hesitation in starting the enterprize, your 

 Committee have been guaranteed by a few gentlemen that 

 the "machinery should be forthcoming, if planters will guar- 

 antee a moderate but sufficient quantity of leaves, to be de- 

 livered at about 8s per ton. As the quantity per acre is 

 stated to be 75 tons, that would yield £30 per acre. 



Your Committee, therefore, considers it is justified in 

 strongly recommending planters to put in a certain quantity 

 as soon as possible, as it takes some time to mature, and still 

 longer to propagate. They may be planted as a crop ; they 

 may be used as a live fence, which would stop fires, and no 

 cattle would face; and if planted in double rows, one the 

 first year, and the other two years after, an impervious fence 

 could be kept up, at not only no expense, but at a consider- 

 able profit. 



That was WTitten in December last, and it is very 

 strange that up to that time Mr. Simmonds had not 

 heard of M. Favier's machine, or, if he had, should 

 have ignored it. Ou the substitutes for fibres. Mr. 

 Simmouds has a couple of paragraphs in an interest- 

 ing paper ou "Useful Shams" contributed by him 

 lately to the British Trade Journal, which we may 

 introduce here : — 



FiBEES. — When the war with Russia rendered bristles 

 scarce and dear, commerce soon supplied our brush makers 

 with vegetable substitutes in the shape of kittool fibre aud 

 coir fibre from palms, Mexican fibre from the leaves of At/tnr 

 .^i^t/a/iif. Piassava fibre from the leaf-stalks of a South 

 American palm, came in to supjjly bass-biooms, chimney- 

 sweepers' brushes, and street-sweeping machines. Even 

 split quills have been brought into requisition for brushes, 

 and for white and dyed bristles we are not alone dependent 

 upon the stilt" haij- of the hog. Another cheap substitute 

 brought into use is that of vegetable down, to replaco *he 

 costly animal product cider down. These silky downs, 

 clothing the seeds of several plants, such as JJmiihaa; Ceilia, 

 Ctilotrupis, &c , are now largely used for filling coverlets, 

 ladies' quilted petticoats, muffs, and other articles. This 

 vegetable down is 50 per cent cheaper than the feather 

 down. The qualities which recommend it foruse are im- 

 munity from attacks of moth and vermin, lightness, elasticity 

 and softness, medium warmth, and cheapness. 



Not alone in the East and Soirth are fibrous plants 

 attracting attention. In home papers, recently, there 

 was a paper on Jjiose of Mexico, from which we 

 quote : — 



Anything and everything connected with the supply of fibre 

 whether for textile purposes, cordage, or for paper, is be- 

 coming of more interest almost daily. A recently issued 

 report on some filirous plants of Mexico, with notes on their" 

 habits, will therefore be read with interest. * * 



This plant — the lechugilla — seems to be that known to 

 botanists as Jiromelia jitri, and, together with the maguey 

 vr Ai/avi! Antericana, and the Palma criolla, have attracted 

 much attention both in Mexico and abroad, in the Uuiteil 

 States and Europe. All the plants grow along the line of 

 the Mexican Miitional Hallway, above an altitude of 1,000 

 feet, and throughout the districts contiguous, They are 



prolific, growing wild upon the plains and moimtam side, 

 between Lampagos and Saltillo, and especially so at Eusta- 

 mante and the Plaxcaki Pass neai- by, where there is ex- 

 cellent water-power from a stream flowing from a mountain 

 spring, which has a volume of two square yards, with a 

 fall of 200 feet in five miles. They can be gathered at all 

 points along the line, :; nd conveniently transported in vast 

 quantities to an eligible locality for disintegration and 

 shipment. The salubrity of any point on the line of this 

 railway is said to be equal to that of the great health resorts 

 of the world, and all, owing to temperature, altitude and 

 high condition, are far remote from the yellow fever and 

 other infected districts, and well suited for mining oper- 

 ations, manufacturing centrts, and populous districts. The 

 lechugilla — the literal translation of which is said to be 

 small lettuce, is described as furnishiug a coarse and strong 

 fibre from IS to 24 inches in length, and is used for 

 making sacks, mats, ropes, brushes, &c. It is the textile 

 fibre of commerce, and is exported in increasing quantities 

 from IMexico to the United States and other countries 

 An infusion of the root has strong detergent properties 

 and is extremely valuable for cleansing woollen clothing 

 It is said not to have the effect of displacing colours, but 

 on the ccntrary, " articks likely to fade may be washed 

 with an infusion of the root in safety." Though it seems 

 that the principal use of this fibre in its native country is 

 for rather coarse purposes, it has been described as of 

 extr( me fineness, equal to the best China grass, and capable 

 of being manipulated into the finest fabrics. 



The maguey, century plant, or agave, as it is variously 

 called, is described in the report we are considering as being 

 quite as abundant as the lechugilla. The maguey, as is we 

 ]/itiov,n, is the JgineAiiwrimna L. The heart of the plant 

 yields " agua miel," or " wort,'' and this, when fermented, 

 becomes pulque, an intoxicating liquor in great request by 

 the people. The roasted heart is mescal, and this, when 

 pressed in a mill, yields a liquid by distillation, called vino 

 de mescal. It is a strong spirituous liquid, as clear and colour- 

 less as spring water. A juice is extracted from the leaves of 

 the plant by simply wringing them, which is said to be an 

 excellent autiscorbutic, and has been used with most satis- 

 factory results in cases of scrofirla. The fibre can be obtained 

 from five to even six feet in length. It is very fine and the 

 Mexicans weave it into fine textures. It is said that shoe- 

 makers use it to make their best thread, and the writer of 

 the report says he has seen it " wrought into handsome 

 money bags, ornamental baskets, kc, and then tinted with 

 various colours. So far no machinery has been invented, 

 or at least the Mexican people know of none, suited to 

 break, hackle, aud prepare this product. They do it in a 

 cumbrous way by hand." 



The following is given as an illustration of the extent of 

 agave plants to be found in a given area. At Santo Ysabel, 

 a .station between Lanipazos and Bustamante, the railway 

 rurvs for a distance of about six miles oyer the land of a 

 certain Don Solome Botello, who distils » great quantity 

 of vino mescal. "To give an idea of the great abundance 

 of maguey growing spontaneously on his land — all without 

 cultivation — it is but necessary to say that LU.OOU plants 

 were destroyed in clearing the ground for the right of way. 

 Lately, while making a short excursion across his lands, in 

 company with the general manager and general super- 

 intendent of the road, he called our attention to the great 

 loss of maguey leaves in taking the heart of the plants 

 for distillation. For every plant cut 25 great leaves were 

 left strewn to rot upon the ground, or 5,0C0 leaves to each 

 200 plants." 



The "palma criolla" (Oreoilo.ra reyia) is a tall growing 

 palm, olten planted in avenues. It is described as being 

 very plentiful. The fibrous leaves are used to thatch the 

 ordinary Mexican hut, or if straw or other material is 

 used for the thatch, it is nearly always tied on by strings 

 formed fi om the torn leaves after being heated ; this string, 

 indeed, constitutes the common twine of the country. The 

 fruit is somewhat similar in appearance to the date, aud 

 is sometimes eaten. It is also distilled, and from it a 

 quantity of aijwirdietite, or rum, is made. "There was 

 quite a large distillery of this kind near and northwards 

 from Salina^ou the railway. This plant, or tree, has lately 

 excited much attention, as throughout it is of a fibrous 

 growth, trunk, leaves and all, aud some are experimenting 

 with it with a view to the manufacture of paper." 



