Vol. VIII. No. 189. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



235 



FIBRE INDUSTRY Ilsf BRAZIL. 



The i'ollowing informal.ion is taken from the reports 

 of tlie Atiierican Consiil-General at Rio de Janeiro, and 

 the Consul at Bahia, published in the United States 

 Consular lie i)nrt for June last : — 



Pf;Ei.\'l FIBRE. The fibre obtained from this plant is 

 equal to the Italian linen fibre in price, iuul the jute possesses 

 the qualities of linen and hem[i, 'with some advantages in 

 printing and dj'eing. The industry is in the hands of a 

 Brazilian Company, that has planted an area of 680,000 

 square yards with the perini plant, and has contracts with 

 planters for 1,6.50,000 square yards, making a total area of 

 2,330,000 square yards. 



The rate of production of finished fibre is 3,194 H). per 

 acre per planting, including fibre of all grades, and there are 

 under present conditions, two crops a year from one planting. 

 The fibre consists of about 1,300 Bx of fine, and 1,900 tt.. 

 of coarser quality. 



The prices at recent sales have Ijeen at the rate of 16"lc. 

 per fi). of the first grade, 8'7c. per Iti. for second grade, and 

 5".5c. per It), for the third grade, making an average of 10c. 

 per lb. for all the fibre grown. At this rate the earnings 

 amount to about §320 per acre. 



The plant was at first e.xpected to give three or four 

 •crops per planting, but under the present, somewhat 

 primitive methods of agriculture which prevail, it will only 

 yield two crops per planting. Further, the cost of planting 

 and cutting the crop, the transportation and other ojjerations, 

 has been great. There has, however, been practically no 

 cost for land, as this was mostly granted by the Government, 

 who originally also subsidized the industry. 



Moreover, the methods employed for macerating the 

 plants have been on the Italian and French .systems, and have 

 been mostly carried out by hand and without modern tools. 

 The chief machine employed is limited ' in capacity and 

 requires twenty-seven men to operate it.. Consequently the 

 expenses of labour and tankage in macerating have been 

 heavier than was anticipated. 



It is, however, expected that matters will .soon .show 

 considerable Improvement. Motor [iloughs from the United 

 States are being introduced for preparing the land, and anew 

 macerating machine, with twice the output of the present one, 

 and requiring only six men to work it, is being in:ported from 

 the same country. This \\'ould mean a considerable increase 

 in the production per acre, and with improved methods of 

 maceration, considerable increase in the profits obtained. 



PIASS.WA FIBRE. The Piassava (Attalea fitnifeya) is 

 a species of wild and trunkless palm, which yields a fibre 

 suitable for brooms and brushes as well as the coquilho nut, 

 used in the manufacture of beads, buttons, cigar and cigar- 

 ette holders, etc. 



]t grows wild in many coastal pnrtions of Kahia, inore 

 especially in the southern part. It prefers a very .sandy soil, 

 and consequently, the land on which it grows is very poor 

 and almost devoid of vegetation, with the exception '.if .sage- 

 brush and cactus ; if, however, tlie.se are burnt off the ground, 

 the pias.sava is said to come up of itself. 



The bark is soaked in water till the useless tissues 

 liave rotted out, when the fibre is dried, cleaned, cut into 

 specified lengths, and sorted according to quality. It is then 

 ready for export. 



The labourers are usually paid a fixed price per arroba 

 (32 lb.) of fibre cut, usually from 60 to • 90c., accord- 

 ing to the distance the fibre has to be conveyed after cutting, 

 since this wage includes its delivery at a seaport or railway 

 station. 



The methods employed for cutting and macerating are 

 very primitive, though the British firm that owns a large 

 portion of the private plantations uses manufactured 

 <;ombs for combing out the fibre, and machine-made, 

 but hand-operated, steel cleavers for cutting it into lengths. 

 Improved machinery would probably greatly decrease the 

 expenses of m-)nufactaring. 



The trees need no cultivation, and if carefully handled 

 will continue to yield fibre annually for a period of thirty years. 

 TLey average from ten to seventy-five per acre. For the pur- 

 pose of growing this and other plants, large tracts of land may 

 hi obtained from the .State at from §1 to .f 2 per acre. 



The average exports for the last few years have been 

 about 1,318 metric tons of fibrg and 429 tons of coquilho nuts. 

 There is an export duty of 21 per cent, on fibre and 8 per 

 cent, on nuts, on a valuation arbitrarily fi.\;ed by State ap- 

 praisers. The average export duties have amounted to 

 $1890 per ton on piassava, and ■'j2-40 per ton on coquilho 

 nuts. The fibre, cut to .size and ready for manufacture, sells 

 at .§200 to .§32.5 per ton, according to quality ; and the nuts 

 at ■i?40 to !?G.5 per ton, according to size. 



As the lands on whicLi the piassava grows in Bahia 

 often contain several other forms of fibre plants also of con- 

 siderable value, this industry, especially with improved 

 methods of cutting and preparation, seems to offer consider- 

 able prospect of realizing large profits to any one interested 

 in fibre production. 



AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



The following will serve to give an idea of the 

 growth of Agricultural Education in the Ignited States 

 {E.rperihwitf Station Record, February 1909). 



The total income of the Agricultural Colleges was 

 .$.5,000,000 in 1897, $1.5,000,000 in 1908 ; the value of their 

 property was .-5-51,000,000 in the former year and $96,000,000 

 in 1907. The students in 1897 niunbered 4,000; in 1908, 

 10,000. 



One agricultural high school existed in 1897, and there 

 are now 55. Not one normal school taught agriculture in 

 1897, but now 11.5 do so, besides many privately endowed 

 schools. About half of the Agricultural Colleges now give 

 training courses for teachers in agriculture ; 44 States and 

 Territories give .some instructions in elementary principles of 

 Agriculture in the lower schools. The Graduate School of 

 Agriculture for instruction of investigators and for discus- 

 sion of advanced problems of research in agriculture was 

 organized in 1902, and is now doing work under the As.socia- 

 tion of American Agricultural Colleges and Ex[)erinient 

 Stations. A strong movement for the systematic organiza- 

 tion of all agencies in agrieultui-al extension work has been 

 started within a few years, and the National Educational 

 as.sociation has added a department of rural and agricultural 

 education. 



Outside of schools which are for the education of youth 

 and teachers in agriculture, the farmers have received 

 a greatly increased degree of education by means of demon- 

 stration work and advice given orally and by letter, bv 

 countless official and private publication.s, by corn and live- 

 stock judging contests, and by farmers' institutes. The 

 number of sessions of the last named held in 1908 was 

 14,000, with an attendance of about 2,000,000 per.sons, an 

 enormous increase over the attendance twelve years ago. 

 About 1,200 trained lecturers are now employed in fariner.s' 

 institute work in all States and Territories. 



