2C THE 7EAR-B00E OF AGRICULTURE. 



■ad ;i null portion of free oil. These enter into and through every peri of the fibre, After 

 this treatment, it is washed, and is then (bund to be left and silky, it- spinning quality being 

 thereby much Improved, and it- value being very considerably increased; and, while the fibre 

 i- not weakened, this process gives to it what is known in the trade a- "nature." The im- 

 provement in quality may be estimated at from £8 to £10 per ton, and is capable of being 

 made with ease probably double. — Dublin .Journal of Industrial JPtvfrm$. 



New Method of Cleaning and Preparing the Plantain Fibre. 



Vajuous attempts hare been made at different times to construct s machine whioh would 

 prove effectual for cleaning in a simple and economical manner the fibre of the plantain. 

 many expensive machines have been made and patented; but all have failed when brought 

 into lull operation, partly on account of the peculiar nature of tin' substance t" 1"- acted upon, 

 and partly through ignorance respecting it- composition and qualities. All inventors have acted 

 on the principle of crushing the stem of the plant, and oombing out the substance which fills up 

 the interstices between the fibre-, thus freeing them from native impurities. This appears to 

 have been a false principle; ami is the chief, if not the only, reason of all the failures which 

 have- resulted. 



The Hon. Francis Burke, of Montserrat, West Indies, who ha- been experimenting on this 



subject for -ome time, has recently succeeded in completing a small machine whioh perfectly 



as the plantain fibre, leaving a beautiful white, silky sub-tance, resembling flax, only three 



times as long. It is capable of being manufactured into any description of textile fabric, from 



the quality of the finest cambric to that of the coarsest Bail-cloth. 



This machine is said to combine simplicity of action with extreme che.-ipn. 38. \ piece of 

 the stem of the plant is held by one end in the hand, passed into the machine through the 

 "feeder," and, being >till retained in the hand, is drawn out again perfectly dean and white. 

 These machines are of different dimensions, and may be worked by the hand or any other 

 motive-power according to its size. 



oall machine worked by the band costs but about fifteen dollars, and, with the a -i-tance 

 of a boy to feed it, will clean one hundred and fifty pounds per day: and is BO portable that 

 it can be taken to the spot where the plantains grow, when they may be prepared in one day 

 ready for shipment So small is the waste, that from 7"> to 80 per cent, by weight of pre- 

 pared fibre N procured from the plant, irrespective of its watery particles. The waste -ub- 

 Stance is a valuable pulp, which may readily be converted into the finest writing-paper. The 

 pulp is estimated at a value equal to the cost of working, and the fibre is net profit 



Transportation of Grain. 



Tin: transportation of grain from all the great "beat and corn-fields of the West is a sub- 

 ject whioh now requires ■ careful investigation, from the immtmnfl amount of expenditure 



which it has been found to involve. The question i-. simply, a> to whether grain shall be 

 trai. ii bags or barrels; and that a great saving il in favor of the latter it is our pur- 



pose to establish. 



I*.y the present system of moving grain there is a continual waste from the harvc-t-field to 



the mill, and until the flour is packed in tight, well-«eaaoned barrels. Western wheal i- -tly 



thrashed from an out-door stack, and piled and winnowed on the ground; then bagged and 



brought to market, "here it i- emptied into elevators, and stored in hulk; the cen're of the 



pile often beating until its value i- destroyed. It is then shipped in bulk, and when it ai i 

 Buffalo, ii transfi rred bj elevators tit i nana! bant, end thenee toe sto r ehouse in New ^ oik. 



If it i- finally -old (br exportation, it is put up in bags suitable for shipping, alter Inning 



undergone a dosen different handling-. 



Now lUppOM the fanner had provided himself with barrel*, and put up hi- grain on the 



a, dry and in g 1 order. Ba«H com, ii, , ii tloiir-barrel will hold about three and one-third 



bii-hel-, for Whioh the freight from Indimapoli- to New Voik i- about $1.40 to $ll60 pOT 

 barrel; und, Mnl rule, the oharges 09 rolling freight on every line of railroad i- from 



