ECONOMIC OR USEFUL PLANTS 



405 



ganized, so that the tough elongated fibers are easily freed. 

 After lying on the ground for eight to twelve weeks it is set up in 

 shocks to dry (fig. 390). It is broken and cleaned by hand, or 

 by machine (figs. 390, 391). Ramie, also called China grass, silk 

 grass, ramie-hemp, etc., is the fiber from a shrub (Bcvhmeria 

 nivea) native in China and the Malay Islands, where it has long 

 been cultivated for its fiber, which is used for making fish nets, 

 cloth, etc., while in China and Japan some beautiful textile fabrics 

 are made from it. It 

 is cultivated to some 

 extent in the south- 

 eastern United States. 

 The name hemp is also 

 applied to fiber used for 

 similar purposes and 

 obtained from plants 

 belonging to a number 

 of different families. 



Manila hemp COmeS Agave e , ongata< sJ/LXe henequen plant on- the 



from i Qnprips; rf ha dock, ready for shipment from Progreso, Yucatan. The 



Da ~ henequen plant, cultivated in Yucatan, produces more than 



nana ( lUT<u<:n f0vfi]ir\r>nr\ nine-tenths of the fiber called "sisal " used in the manufac- 



1 ture of binder twine. It can be grown successfully only 



ic pYfpnc;ivp1v riiltivatpH in the Tropics. More than $33,000,000 worth (Mexican 



iSlVCly Cultivated silvcr) of this fiber are exported from Progres o every year, 



in thp Priilinninp Tc and about $15,000,000 worth, gold, are imported into the 



rnillppme IS- Un ited States to be used chiefly in the manufacture of 



IcinrJc U< xico1 " f\r- "ci'col binder twine. From Fiber Investigations, U.S. Depart- 



lanas. sisal, or sisal men t of Agriculture, 

 hemp," is obtained 



from the henequen plant, a species of Agave, especially Agave 

 elongata. It is grown in the tropics, a large quantity being grown 

 in Yucatan. More than nine-tenths of the " sisal " used in mak- 

 ing binder twine is made from the henequen plant. 



570. The elm family (Ulmaceae) includes a number of trees. 

 Our most prominent one is the American elm (Ulmus americana), 

 a large tree valuable for lumber. It is much planted for shade 

 and as an ornamental tree. It is one of the most rapidly grow- 

 ing trees. 



571. The mulberry family (Moraceae) includes the mul- 

 berry tree, which is grown for its fruit and as a shade tree. The 



