ABSTRACTS OF PUBLICATIUNS OF THE IMTFl) STATES DEPAHTMENT OF 



AliHIirarHE. 



P^^RT III. 



DIVISION OF STATISTICS. 



MISCELLANEOUS UEPOKT No. 1 (NEW SERIES). 



Report on flax, hejmp, ramie, and jute, C. R. Dodge (pp. 104), 

 (illustrated). — This embodies the results of investigations by the 

 author as a special agent of this Department in 1889, in France, 

 Belgium, and Ireland. The report is arranged in two parts, the first 

 relating to flax and hemp culture in Europe, with descriptions of the 

 latest inventions in flax-cleaning machinery, an account of the offi- 

 cial trials of ramie decorticating machines at the Paris Exposition, 

 and descriptions of the machines which competed. In reviewing the 

 methods of work pursued in foreign countries, the author has taken 

 into account particularly the wants and conditions of the fiber indus- 

 try in the United States. 



The second part is devoted to flax, hemp, ramie, and jute in the 

 United States. The fact that 1,000,000 acres are planted in flax in 

 this country annually, the straw of which is wasted or burned after 

 the seed has been removed, while we are importing millions of dollars 

 Avorth of fibers every year, emphasizes the importance of the present 

 investigation, some of the results of which are detailed in this report. 

 It is shown that by better methods of culture, and by a little more 

 oareful handling of the product, we may grow flax both for seed and 

 fiber, and that there is a demand for the quality of fiber which can be 

 produced here. 



The cultivation of hemp in States north and south of the Ohio 

 River is treated in full, with accounts of recent inventions in hemp- 

 cleaning machinery. Hemp culture is being extended, and the prod- 

 uct utilized in the manufacture of binder twine, which is shown to 

 be equal to binder twine from Sisal and Manila, and several cents 

 cheaper per pound. If our farmers would cultivate flax and hemp in 

 sufficient quantities, it is estimated that, out of a total importation 

 of raw fibers and manufactured products amounting to $44,000,000 

 annually, $26,000,000 might be saved to this country. 



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