VEGETABLE FIBERS. C03 



actly the lengtli of tlio stalk or switch \7hicli was fed to tlie macliine is 

 thus obtained, and the wood and extraneous matter are as cleanly taken 

 off as could be desired, and without slivers. 



It is claimed that tlie stalks of ramie, mallow, or jute may be ran 

 through the machine the moment they are cut, without waste of time 

 by preparatory rotting of wood or outer bark, which injures the fiber. 

 Further, that there is absolutely no preparation at all, and the fiber is 

 unbroken. The scrapings of bark, &c., can be used in i)aper-stock, while 

 the woody matters can be used for fuel for the engine driving the ma- 

 chine. The only remaining process is to boil the gum from the ribbons 

 of fiber, and they are then ready to be tied in hanks for the rope-walk, 

 or for the manufacturer. The machine is said to clean or prepare 2,000 

 pounds of fiber per day, fed by a boy, the stalks being placed upon a 

 platform within easy reach. The boiling is a simple matter and can be 

 done in the field, or factory, or shed where the machine is running, or 

 the ribbons may be marketed as they come from the machine, the cord- 

 age manufacturer boiling out the gum at the same time that it is boiled 

 for bleaching. 



In the patent specification it is stated that — 



This inTention consista in the combination of feed-rollers, a splittiug-kuife, a series 

 of separate channela, each adapted to receive and guide the t^vo halves of a stalk of 

 ramie or other fibrous plant, and crushing rollers, which receive the split stalks from 

 the gnide-channels for breaking the connection of the fibers with the pith and skin. 

 A beater, which acta on the split stalks as the same pass from the crushing rollers, 

 serves to detach the pith from the fibers, and the skin is finally removed by the action 

 of a grinding 6^l^face. On the splitting-knife are secured suitable cams for turning the 

 upper half of the split stalk, so that both halves pass through the crushing rollers 

 with the pith side facing upward. 



The yucca machine, to which reference has been made (A. Stoney's 

 patent, May 7, 1878), consists of two horizontal cast-iron rollers, twelve 

 inches in diameter, twenty inches long, cast hollow with one inch shell. 

 The surfaces are smooth and the rollers set true, so as to thoroughly 

 mash or crush the gTecn glutinous mass loose fi'om the fiber of the yucca 

 blade. It is provided with two-inch journals 6 inches long, to admit of 

 the necessary pulleys, propelled by cog-wheels on one end. The top 

 roller, adjusted by set-screAvs or springs, makes about 40 revolutions per 

 minute. Above the crushirig rollers is arranged a sprinkling device, 

 that is made of two horizontal pipes, perforated at the bottom, and of a 

 cross-pipe connected with the supply-pipe. These^ furnish a supply of 

 water in jets to both sides of the crushing rollers, for the purpose of 

 softening the green extraneous matter as it jmsses the crushing rollers 

 and brushing cylinders. Steam may be used in place of water, where 

 it is not convenient to use the latter. The brushing cylinders, of which 

 there "are three, vary from 3 to 5 inches in diameter, are twenty inches 

 long and are thickly set with best English steel- wke, untempered, pro- 

 jecting from one-fourth to one-half inch from the surface of the cylin- 

 ders. The green yucca leaves are carried to the crushing rollers by 

 means of an endless apron or feed-belt four feet long and twenty inches 

 wide, conveyed upon two wooden rollers, propelled by pulley and strap 

 connection with the journal of the lower crushing roller. 



The patentee writes that for want of means to push it, but little has 

 been done with the machine other than in an experimental way. The 

 machine has also been used to clean ramie stalks. ^ 



In November, 1877, a patent was granted to Carlos de la Bagnera, of 

 New York City, for a machine for the extraction of the fiber from the 

 leaves of the ^Agave Am&i'icana, known as " pita." Having only seen 

 the patent specification, and being unable to learn anything about the ma- 



