544 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



of dressed fiber. On the Isthmus of Tehuantepec it is used by the 

 natives in the fabrication of thread, cordage, mats, bagging, clothing, 

 and for hammocks, and the fiber is sometimes made into paper. It is 

 also manufactured into cloth by the Spaniards, for hammocks. 



The fiber of the young plants is fine and white, though necessarily 

 short. The more mature the plant the coarser and longer the fiber, so 

 with this knowledge it is an easy matter to select just the quality of 

 fiber desired. The plants are armed with spines or thorns — used by the 

 natives for needles and pins — though these disappear in cultivation. 



Specimens of Bromelia fiber, from British Honduras, were brought to 

 the notice of the Eoyal Society of Arts in 1857, and from examinations 

 then made — 



It was ascertained that each fiber contained from fire to twelve or more filaments, 

 held together by gummj^ matter capable of being dissolved by proper processes. 

 Specimens had been passed over the comb or hackle of a flax-mill, and had been pro- 

 nounced by the most experienced flax spinners (of England) to be greatly sujjerior to 

 Russian flax, and approaching the best descriiJtion of Belgian in capability of appli- 

 cation to the finest textile fabrics. 



Squier states that the fiber of this plant is probably more valuable in 

 every sense than those of any other tropical plant, and would seem to 

 be produced more readily than those of Agave Sisalana. 



Microscopically the fibers of Bromelia differ from those of Ananassa 

 sativa. "The interior canal is much more apparent and the walls thinner. 

 The fibers often present great inequalities in the diameter of the same 

 specimen as well as in the thickness of the walls." 



Among the many samples of bromeliaceous fibers in the Museum 

 there are several examples of "Caragua" or "Caraguata" fiber from the 

 Argentine Eepublic, which are fine, white, and strong. Eoyle, in a work 

 on India fiber-producing plants, mentions Bromelia Earatas, or the "up- 

 right-leaved wild pine-apple," which includes the "Caraguata" of Pisa, 

 and is common in South America. This is probably a variety of Brome- 

 lia sylvestris. 



Basylirion gramini folium. — Bear Grass. — A sample of the fiber from 

 this ijlant, without locality or other data than the name given above, 

 occurs in the collection of the department. It is probably of Mexican 

 origin, as the plants of the genus are found in that country ; and belong- 

 ing, as it does, to the Bromeliacese, it would naturally inhabit a tropical 

 or subtropical chmate. 



The fiber resembles Ixtle, is about 2 feet in length, fully equal to it 

 in strength, though in color it is darker, due very likely to improper 

 mode of preparation. A peculiarity of the sample before us is that the 

 filaments are filled with kinks, as though the fiber had been folded upon 

 itself a number of times. These do not impair the strength, however, 

 the breakage point coming oftener between than on the "joints," as these 

 kinks appear to be, for the filament has no stiffness at this point, and, 

 held in the hand horizontally, falls by its own weight at the nearest of 

 these points, as though partially severed. The plants are described as 

 having — 



Short stems and densely-crowded linear leaves (which furnish the fiber), drooping 

 gracefully, and generally having a little brush-like tuft of fibers at the point. From 

 amidst these leaves the flower stalks rise to a considerable height, the upper portion 

 being crowded with a dense panicle of flowers. 



TiUandsia usneoides. — Spanish or Southern Moss. — This plant, so 

 abundant in the southern portions of our own country, is a native of 

 tropical America, growing in profusion in Central America, West In- 

 dies, and portions of South America. In Brazil it is used by the country 

 people to fill mattresses, pillows, cushions, &c., and it is also used for 



