OTHER ECONOMIC GRASSES 1 57 



Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, no. 57, entitled, 



Methods Used for Controlling and Reclaiming Sand 



Dunes; and no. 65, entitled, Reclaiming of Cape Cod 



Sand Dunes. 



FIBER GRASSES 



Most of the vegetable fibers are obtained from such 

 plants as cotton, flax, hemp, jute, manila hemp, and 

 sisal hemp, grasses furnishing but little. The only fiber 

 obtained from grasses is esparto or alfa, which is pro- 

 duced by two species growing in Spain and North Africa 

 (Lygeum Spar turn L. and Stipa tenacissima L.). A 

 coarse fiber for making scrubbing brushes is obtained 

 from the roots of a Mexican grass {Epicampes macroura 

 Benth.). Inquiries are sometimes made as to why some 

 of our native grasses are not used as a source of fiber. 

 Many of our grasses contain fiber of good quality but at 

 present the cost of harvesting is so great that they can- 

 not compete with the fibers now in use. Some of them 

 may be used for paper-making when available in suf- 

 ficient quantity and when the demand for paper-making 

 material becomes imperative. Crex, advertised as grass 

 rugs, is produced from a kind of sedge (Carex species) 

 and not from a grass. 



SUGAR-PRODUCING GRASSES 



The sugar supply of the world is produced chiefly from 

 two plants, the sugar cane and the sugar beet. A small 

 amount is produced from sorghum. Sugar cane is a large 

 grass somewhat resembling corn and sorghum. Sugar 

 is made from the juice of the stem. The plant is grown 

 at low altitudes in all tropical countries where sufficient 



