548 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



of the West Indies and Soutli America. The plant is closely allied to 

 the agaves, and is found throughout tropical America. It grows in 

 Algeria and Natal, and is said to be common in St. Helena. It has also 

 been introduced into Madras, and in Australia. It is of moderately 

 quick growth, and attains great i^erfection. Like the agaves, these 

 plants have long-lived massive stems, immense fleshy leaves, and i)roduce 

 their flowers after many years upon tall central stems in i^yramidal, 

 candelabra-like form. 



The fiber is very similar to that of the agave, and indeed is some- 

 times called Pita, particularly in South America. In Brazil it is called 

 Peteria, and is described as ." a white fiber, of a silken luster, but of 

 little tenacity." In Venezuela it is called Cocuisa. Dr. Ernst, in the 

 catalogue of the Venezuelan Department (Exhibition, 1876), states that 

 the fiber is very strong, and is used for cordage and gunny bags. It is 

 prepared in the same manner as Sisal hemp. Samples of the Venez- 

 uelan specimens are dyed in aniline, to show that it will take color. 



I was shown a sample of fiber this winter, sent to a New York manu- 

 facturer from one of the West India Islands, which I am quite sure was 

 from the Foiircroya. When received, the manufacturer was delighted 

 with it, and at considerable expense sent down an agent with machinery 

 to prepare it for cordage manufacture. From causes not explained, no 

 results were attained by this venture, and the one specimen only re- 

 mained — a costly monument to an unsuccessful fiber experiment, or, 

 pej'haps, to misplaced confidence. But this does not detract from the 

 value of the fiber in question, and shows, if the sample was Fourcroya, 

 that the fiber was considered worthy of utilization. 



Fourcroya Guhensis. — Samples of fiber from this plant, closely resem- 

 bling the preceding, were brought from Santo Domingo by Dr. Parry. 

 The plant is met with in limited districts, and "the large, fleshy leaves 

 yield the fine, white fiber so extensively used in the manufacture of 

 ropes." These specimens are preserved in the museum, together with 

 a sample received from Queensland (Exhibition, 1870), under the name 

 "Cuba hemp." 



Boryanthes excelsa. — Spear Lily. — Habitat, East Australia. This fiber 

 was met with in the New South Wales and Victorian collections received 

 with the Australian exhibit (Exhibition, 1870). The plant is "a tall, 

 straight stem, 20 feet high, springing from an aloe-like tuft of broadly 

 ensiform-spreading basal leaves, the stem itself clothed with much 

 smaller appressed ones." The stern terminates in a bulky flower-head 

 composed of crimson flowers. It is sometimes met with in cultivation. 

 According to Guilfoyle, who has prepared its fibers experimentally, the 

 leaves are a complete mass of fiber of great strength, fit for strong 

 ropes, matting, cordage, &c. It can also be employed in paper-making, 

 with good results. It is of moderately quick growth in Victoria. The 

 .specimen has not been thoroughly jirepared, as some of the filaments 

 are quite white, while the majority are a rust red. They are stiff but 

 fine, the white fibers being smooth and glossy. In strength, the sample 

 before me is considerably below the average of fibers in this family. 



20. — ^PALMACBiE. 



We now come to a group of plants, many of which are fiber produc- 

 ing, and some of them of great celebrity. 



The palius are found in tropical countries in all portions of the world, 

 and are among the most useful plants to man in the whole vegetable 

 kingdom. Some of the fibers derived from them are of great strength, 



