VEGETABLE FIBERS. 565 



PART II. 

 OUE FLAX AND HEMP INDIISTEIES. 



INQUIRY CONCERNING PRESENT PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE. 

 .1" 



In connection with the foregoing report upon the vegetable fibers in 

 the museum of the Department of Agriculture an obvious necessity 

 appeared, a showing of the practical as well as technical and scientific 

 sides of the subject, particularly in regard to fibers which are or may be 

 grown within our own borders. With increase of population and wealth, 

 and advance in art and culture, come new and ever- varying wants to 

 be met, requiring diverse material in all modes of combination. Fab- 

 rics of strength superior to cotton, textiles of greater tenacity than wool, 

 and textures surpassing either in cheapness, are the constantly-enlarg- 

 ing necessity of the times. With a present demand for 35,000,000 yards 

 'of bagging for cotton, while flax-fiber enough to produce it is thrown 

 away, the effort to extend the production of flax bagging would seem 

 to be worth official consideration. 



The importation of products costing, with duties, $20,000,000 per 

 annum, of which instead we should export at least an equal amount, is 

 a feature in national economy not to be commended. We are introduc- 

 ing foreigners, hundreds of thousands per annum, and setting them to 

 fruitless competition with the farmers in the production of wheat and 

 cotton, cheapening our staple products, while we send abroad for our 

 sugar, flax, hemp, jute, and many other necessaries suited to our soUs 

 and climate. It cannot be continued without serious injury to our agri- 

 culture. The present moment is not too early to call a halt in this 

 wholesale importation of raw material. One good crop of wheat in 

 Europe, with ours enlarged to 500,000,000 bushels, would depress prices 

 and spread panic through the Northwest, which would give a new and 

 terrible emphasis to the pressing need for diversification of our agricul- 

 tural industry. 



There is increase of flax for oil-making in the heart of the wheat-grow- 

 ing belt. Its rough straw is used in immense quantities for paper stock 

 and largely for bagging. Jute can be grown throughout the cotton 

 States, and there is no further doubt concerning the successful cultiva- 

 tion of ramie. Abuliton, the mallows, yuccas, and other fiber-bearing 

 plants growing in wild profusion, invite wholesale utilization. With 

 more invention, easily acquired skiU in manipulation, and more method 

 in cultivation, and care in preparation for market, great and permanent 

 and ever-growing industries maybe built up, providing labor for millions 

 who need it, and increasing the present prosperity of the country. 



In connection with the foregoing report, it was thought advisable, for 

 greater completeness of the work in certain essential points, to issue a 

 circular to manufacturers, asking information upon special subjects. 

 Such a circular was prepared with a view of obtaining, first, statistics 

 in relation to the fiber-manufacturing interest; secondly, to gain a 

 knowledge of any recent experiments with new fibers that might prove 

 worthy of cultivation ; and, lastly, to learn as far as possible the present 

 status of the flax and hemp industries, and what special encouragements 

 are needed to further the ])roduction of these fibers in this country. 



In January of the present year, copies of the circular were sent to 

 flax, hemp, jute, and other manufacturers of vegetable fiber (with the 



