564 KEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



the crushing mills, in. Louisiana. (See closing portion of the second 

 part of this report.) 



Stipa tenacisHima. — Mat Weed. — This plant, which is only interesting 

 as furnishing a paper substance and not a textile, grows abimdantly in 

 Algeria and also in Southern Spain. With the Arabs it is called Alfa^ the 

 French call it Sparte, and the Spaniards Usparto, by which name it is com- 

 monly known in this country. It belongs to the grass family, growing 

 in matted tnfts, with long leaves : a bundle of Esparto grass, but for the 

 color, resembling a corresponding mass of broom. Both in Africa and 

 in Spain it is manufactured into sandals, hats, baskets, mats, ropes, 

 sacks, nets, &c. The Spanish sheplierds employ it in making hurdles 

 for their sheep, and the Arabs use it in the manufacture of household 

 utensils, weaving it so closely that liquid food can be carried in them. 

 The young leaves arc eaten by cattle. 



The Esparto was introduced into this country over ten years ago. 

 (See annual report of this department for 1868, p. 260.) In late years it 

 has been exported in considerable quantities to France and England for 

 the manufacture of fine paper, sami)les of which can be seen in the mu- 

 seum, together with the grass as imported. 



Vetillart states that when the Esparto is reduced to a pulp and exam- 

 ined microscopically the fibers are seen to be " short, full, and smooth, 

 and display a very fine central cavity. They are remarkable for their 

 flexibility and tendency to curl up ; they are sufficiently uniform, and 

 the diameter is regular for a great part of its length. The points, which 

 are rarely fine and sharj), are often rounded, sometimes truncated, bifur- 

 cated, or notched." The fiber separates easily. 



tSpartina cimosuroidcs. — Fresh Vv'ater Cord Grass. — This coa^rse grass 

 gTOws to a height of from 2 to 6 feet, upon the margins of lakes and 

 water-courses, in many parts of the United States. A few years ago it 

 was successfully employed at Quincy, 111., in the manufacture of paper, 

 the source of supply being the Mississippi Eiver, where it was found in 

 vast quantities. It cost at the miR about $5 per ton, and made a very 

 firm, better class of brown wrapping-paper — superior to straw — samples 

 of which can be seen in the museum. The bruised stalks present quite 

 a fibrous ax)x>earance. 



26.— DlCKSONIE^. 



The fiber mentioned in this family belongs neither to the Endogeus 

 nor to the Exogens, but to a third gToup, known as Acrogens, or top- 

 growers, which include the tree ferns. 



Cihotium menziesil. — Tree Fern. — This plant is found in the Sandwich 

 Islands, gTOwing upon the high lands at an elevation of 1,000 feet, and 

 I>roduces a substance resembling silky hairs or down. It is called Pm^ 

 and is used for upholstering pur[)oses, and particularly for stuffing mat- 

 tresses. It has become an article of exj^ort from the Sandwich Islands 

 to the United States to the aMiount of several thousand pounds annually, 

 the most of which, if not all, is consumed in California. 



Fulu consists of "the hair-like scales found on the crown of the stem 

 and about the base of the frond stalks of the ferns." One plant will 

 furnish but two or three ounces, which requires four years to be pro- 

 duced. 



Two other species, C. glaiicion and Chamissoi, produce the " golden 

 moss," as it is called by the Chinese, and a species of JDidcsonia which 

 grows in Madeira also yields a similar substance, which is used for the 

 same i»urx)ose. It is also used medicinally as a styptic. 



