VEGETABLE FIBERS, 505 



West Indies* and is as useful as an article of food as for its fibre. Otlier 

 edible species found in the Old World have been united with it, as longi- 

 folkis of the East Indies, and an African species called Banmiia; so 

 it may claim a home in both hemispheres. It is cultivated in South 

 France for its pods, and is well known throughout the Southern States 

 as producing a favorite vegetable used largely in soups. 



The bark of this species abounds in fiber of fine quality, which can 

 be employed for many i^urposes. In our own country it has been used 

 to a slight extent in the manufacture of paper, a specimen of which 

 can be seen in the museum in the form of a printed newspaper, from 

 Alabama. 



When cultivated for its pods alone, the okra plants are grown at con- 

 siderable distance from each other, and the strength of the plant goes 

 to develop leaves and fruit, but if cultivated for fiber the seeds should 

 be sown thickly and the plants cultivated closer together, that the stems 

 may grow tall and straight and the bark' smooth and better adaj)ted to 

 the production of fiber, which is extracted in the same manner as that 

 of hemp. 



In color the fiber is as white as New Zealand flax — whiter than jute 

 as generally prepared for export — ^but more brittle and of less strength. 

 The filaments are smooth and lustrous, and tolerably regular. Another 

 sample (received Smithsonian Institution, 1869, locality not given), evi- 

 dently home prepared, as the bast is but little better than separated, 

 exhibits considerable tenacity, and Avould make quite strong cordage. 

 This sample is 3 feet 8 inches in length. For microscopic characteristics 

 of mallow fiber see Hibiscus cannahinus. The okra is worthy of experi- 

 ment, and its fiber might be used to advantage for many purposes for 

 which jute is employed, as coarse bagging, or baling stuff, burlaps, &c. 



In procuring fiber for Dr. Eoxburgh's experiments with this species 

 as to tenacity the stems were cut when the seed was ripe, and were 

 steeped a few days before preparing. His tests, compared with hemp 

 and jute, are thus recorded : The okra fiber, dry (from India), broke with 

 a strain of 79 pounds; wet, 95 pounds; jute {(Jorchorus olitorius), dry, 

 113 pounds; wet, 125 pounds ; hemp(Bengal), dry, 158 pounds; wet, 190 

 pounds. Hibiscus cannabinum in the same test gave, dry, 115 pounds; 

 wet, 133 pounds. Other species of Hibiscus gave as follows: H. sab- 

 dariffa, dry, 95 pounds ; wet, 117 pounds; H. strictus (from the MoUucas), 

 dry, 104; wet, 115 pounds; and H. furcatus, dry and wet, 89 and 92 

 pounds, respectively. 



The species were not all tested under the same conditions, as some 

 were cut when in flower and others when in seed. By these experiments 

 we see that okra fiber wet has just half the tenacity of hemp in the same 

 state, while jute can be rated one- third higher. 



Hibisciis mosclieutos. — Swamp rose mallow. — An indigenous species oi 

 mallow found in many parts of the temperate United States, according to 

 Gray, " inhabiting brackish marshes along the coast, extending up rivers 

 far beyond the influence of salt water (as above Harrisburg, Pa.), also 

 Onondaga Lake, New York, and westward, usually within the influence 

 of salt springs." The plant grows from 4 to 8 feet in height and flowers 

 late in summer. 



The value of the plant has been known for many years, though it has 

 never been prepared other than experimentally^ and in smallest quanti- 

 ties, from the lack of proper machinery with which to manipulate it, and 

 place it in a condition to be utilized. During the last year the plant 



• Porclier states that it was iIltrodl^ced into tlie Soutliem States fi-om Africa. 



