AtoybT 1, i68j.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



103 



FIBEOUvS PLANTS AND THEIR PERCENTAGES 



OF FIBRE. 



We, in common with our readers, are very much 

 indebted to Mr. J. W. Minchin of South- East. 

 Wyuaiid for hia correction of an astounding error 

 made by a Mr. Halcombe in regard to the proportion 

 of clean fibre to bulk in New Zealand hemp or llax, 

 and for showing tliat in re.ility the best tibre-yielding 

 plants have not a greater percentage of useful and 

 marketable material than from 2^ to 10 per cent' 

 the higher percentage being rare. The stems of 

 plantains and bananas contain very little more than 

 1 per cent of fibre, even the best Manila plants not 

 excepted. New Zealand llax, when reduced to its 

 proper proportions, shows a much better result than 

 this ; but, if the enormous proportion of water in 

 plantain stems renders fibre-extracting from them 

 unprofitable, the difficulty, on the other hand is 

 almost as great in consequence of the small quantity 

 of moisture, in the New Zealand plant. Besides the 

 difliculties connected with too much and too little 

 water, and great bulk and weight in propcrtion to 

 fibre, additional impediments to profitable working 

 are offered by obstinate bark and woody matter 

 and sticky gum. To clean fibres thoroughly a combin- 

 ation ol mechanical forces and chemical agencies 

 are required, and, wlien these can be and are 

 thoroughly applied, the cost in labour and money ie 

 too often far more than the market price of the 

 resulting fibre. For paper-making, generally fibre at a 

 very low price is desiderated, and even for textile 

 purposes a high price is only rarely given. We have 

 seen so many sanguine statements ending only in dis- 

 appointment and loss, that we are inclined to advise 

 great caution in regard to experiments. That 

 in which Mr. Minchin is engaged, of growing rhta 

 over an appreciable area, is one of the most promis- 

 ing we know of, and we sincerely trust it may be 

 Buccessful. The chacccs in its favour include the fact 

 that the stems yield fibres of fuch varying qualities 

 that while part is used for ship's cables and cordage 

 the finer fibres are suitable for replacing or being 

 mixed with the most lustrous silks and the most 

 •uperior merino wools. There can be no doubt as re- 

 gards demand, if only cheap as well as thorough 

 procesiea of preparation could be discovered and 

 adopted. If these desiderata are met, we cannot help 

 th'nking, (hat, next to rhea, attmtion ought to be 

 paid to the leaves of pineapples, grown as these plants 

 generally are by the natives of Ceylon in shtdy 

 places »■> as to develop leaf to the utmo-t. Pine- 

 gpijlcs have a great advantage over green aloes ap- 

 parently in not being so exhaustive of the S'il. In 

 our recent travels through the tea regions r.f f'eylon, 

 we found the proprlitor of lands In the Kclebokka 

 Valley (a valley dealincd to be even more famous 

 for tea thin it once deservedly wai frr c 'ffee) wag- 

 ing rclentlesB war with aloe he^'gee, on the ground 

 of experience obtained, that they were fatal to ell 

 other growth within fifteen feet on either side of 

 them. As a gen(ral rule, therefore, fibre-yielding 

 p'aots cannot he grown as subsidiary cultivation, 

 But mttitbavo special areas (f ground devoted to them. 

 And not only 10, bat, as crops in successicn are 

 taken away, fertilising matter hiust be supplied. 

 Rhea certainly rtejuires rich soil aud ccpious manur- 

 ing. The quest-ou of "Will it pay?" u-ider such 

 circumstances hecoiufs urgent, and coitainly as far as 

 Cey'on is concerned we have not yet heard of suc- 

 cessful experiments with Hires, if we except the 

 b!«ck briitly subatacce fuuud ou the kitul palm 



(Carijola un'ii^) and the fibre of the coconut (coir), from 

 the manufacture and export of which certainly fortunes 

 are not made. Mr. Minchin will, no doubt, coutiuuo 

 to report progress in regard to the, rhea experiment 

 under his charge, aud we shall be always glad to hear 

 from him, — especially if, as we trust, the experiment 

 results in success. 



PERCENTAGES OF FIBRE IN VARIOUS 

 PL.ANTS. 

 The Glenrock Company, Limited Pundalur, 

 S. E. Wynaad, Sind May 1SS5. 

 (To tlw Editor of the "Tropical AgricuUari'it.") 

 Dear Siu, — With reference to your article on Fibre 

 Cultivation in the May number of the Tropicus 

 ArjricuUuriift, vol. iv. page 806, and your remarks 

 on the percentage of fibre in difl'erent plants, 

 read Mr. A. T. Halcombe's statement that Phorm uni 

 tena.r gives one ton of fibre to three tons of leavia 

 with great surprize, and at first tbonght it must 

 be some eri'or in printing, but I see that the figures 

 are repeated at the end of his letter. The weight 

 of green leaves of Phormium tenax to the ton of 

 fibre is stated by various authorities at 5^, 6, tii, Gj, 7, 

 aud 7i tons, aud is taken at 15 per cent. (See Spou's 

 Eui'yo. Commercial Products, div. iii., page 9S3.) 



Dr. Sutherland, in his answers to the Fibre Committee 

 at Natal (see Tropical Agriculturist, vol. iii., page 

 461), gives 10 per cent as the yield of fibre from 

 Phormiuin tenax. I think there must be some 

 error in the statement made by Mr. Halcombe which 

 would show that the New Zealand flax, Phormium 

 tenax, would give tenfold more fibre, in proportion 

 to the green stuff treated, than Bcehmeria nivta or rhea. 

 The percentage of fibre to the weight of greeu 

 material depeuds mainly on the percentage of water 

 is contains. Succulent plants such as Manila hemp 

 and plantain contain as much as 90 per cent of 

 water. When first cut, rhea contains from 70 to 80 per 

 cent of water, according to the age of the stems and the 

 season of the year. Young succulent stems contain 

 more water than the ripened stem which has begun 

 to brown at the butt, and there is more moisture 

 in the ripened stem during the rains than in the 

 dry weather even under irrigation. It is undoubtedly 

 the case that fibre plants growing in dry and arid 

 ground will contain a larger percentage of fibre to 

 their green weiyht than succulent plants grown in 

 a moist climate. The leaf blades of the Phormium 

 tenax contain very little moisture, and this is partly 

 the cause of the difficulty exjjerieuced in the pre- 

 paration and extraction of the fibre. 



The yucca, which you kindly inform me has been 

 found to yield 12.J ptr cent of fibre under Mr. 

 Charles Shaud'a experiments, grows in very dry 

 samly soil, and would not suit tbe moist soil and 

 cl.niate of Wynaad. Its principal uso nt present is 

 for pafjer makiuf, aud its commercial value is small. 

 I gather that the percentage of fibre frcm the follow* 

 ing plants is found toba as f..llowB : — 



COTTO}i.—Gossypium.—l5 to 30 per cent of the unmerited 

 seed.— Spon's Eiicye, div. iii, page 9J7. 



HEUV.— Canahis saHiU.—O to 12 jjei' cent raw fibre, of 

 which 25 per cent i« gum soluble in water, 25 per cent 

 is gum soluble in alkalies. Say 5 to 6 per cent of clean 

 ultimate fibre. The green stems coutain 50 per cent of 

 water. — Dr. Korlcs Watson's Keport on Khei, 1975, pages 

 18 to 17. 



Flax. — Linv.m usi'atisHm' m —(0 yiuT cent water, 5 to 7 

 pit cent raw fibre, of wliicli 35 per cent in gum, half soluble 

 in water, half soluble in alkalies, tiny 4 per cent clean 

 ultimate fibre.— Dr. lorbcs Watson ou llhca, IS7.'), page 

 10 to 1 7. 



KiiEA. — Bochiiitria nirea.—bO per cent water, 4 to (i per 



cent raw fibre, prepared by baud as China grass, of which 



i 30 pec $eDt is gum not soluble in water. Say. 2i to 



