538 EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



cleaued with an iron tool. The inner fibers are then washed and 

 bleaclied, and brought to market in this state. This is a medium qual- 

 itj'. The finest quality, and the whitest, is produced by steaming the 

 stems, soaking for one day in water, and then sti^pj^ing. A third grade 

 is stripped immediately from the stem, and preserves a greenish color. 

 In this connection it is interesting to note that wool has never been pro- 

 duced in Japan, and, as has been shown, cotton only dates back to 

 tlie sixteenth century. 



The Sanscrit name of the plant is Blianga; in Hindostan it is called 

 Ganja; the Arab name is Kinmib, from which, doubtless, its Latin 

 name, Cannabis, is derived; in Persia it is known as ^2(w<7, while in 

 China it is Chu ts-ao, and Japan, Assa. A dozen other names might be 

 given, but the present will serve to identify it. 



The plant is so well known in this country, and the mode of cultiva- 

 tion and preparation of the fiber such a familiar matter to those inter- 

 ested in producing it, that description seems unnecessary. Interesting 

 facts, however, connected with the hemp industry will be found in part 

 second of this report. The 'museum series of specimens, through the 

 donations of the commissioners of the various countries represented at 

 the Centennial, is quite full and complete, in fact more so in the foreign 

 department than in our home series. It was noticeable, in preparing 

 our own museum exhibit to send to Philadelphia, that the hemp in- 

 dustry in this country had declined materially from the meager re- 

 sponse to calls for specimens. The cause of this decline, the remedy, 

 and the future prospects of hemp cultivation in this country are given 

 in another portion of this report. Among the specimens in the museum, 

 the samples presented by the Flax and Hemp Commission are preserved, 

 and form an interesting study. There are no specimens of bemi) manu- 

 facture in the collection. 



IT.—MUSACK/E. 



' We have been considering thus far the exogenous plants, the fiber of 

 which is produced in the bark, and which, as we have seen, includes all 

 our finer textiles, as cotton, ramie, flax, jute, &c. We now come to con- 

 sider the class of endogens, furnishing what is generally termed .folia- 

 ceous fiber, wliich is much coarser than fibers of the first class, and used 

 principally for cordage, as the Manila hemp, New Zealand flax, pine- 

 apple fiber, &c. The first family is that of the plantain and banana, 

 to which the Manila hemp belongs. 



Musa textilis. — Wild Plantain.— This plant, as well as the fiber pro- 

 duced fi'om it, the celebrated Manila hemp, is called Abaca by the 

 natives of the Phillippine Isles. Other names are, however, given to the 

 different qualities of the fiber, as handala, which appears to be the harder 

 and stronger outer fiber, which is used for cordage. The finer fibers of 

 the inner layer are called lupis, and are employed in weaving delicate 

 fabrics, while the inter?nediate layers furnish the Aupoz, which enters 

 into the manufacture of the web-cloths and gauzes. The natives dis- 

 tinguish the several varieties of the plant as follows : Abaca hrava, or 

 the wild Ahaca, called by the Bieoles Agotai; the mountain Abaca, 

 which is used for making ropes, called Agotag and Amoquid ; the Sagag 

 of the Bisayas ; the Laquis of the Bisayas, by whom the fibers of the 

 original Abaca are called Lamot. Tbe Malay name is Fissang utan. 



The species of Mnsa, among which are the plantain and banana, are 

 tropical plants, found in many portions of the globe. They are indig- 

 enous in the Phillippine Isles and the islands of the Indian Archipelago. 



