326 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



dress goods of this fibre are used chiefly in the 

 Orient. 



JUTE 



A relative of our bass-wood, native of Bengal, 

 and grown successfully in China and Japan, where 

 labor is very cheap, yields the jute fibre out of 

 which gunnysacks are made. The plant grows 

 to fifteen feet high, a slender, unbranched reed 

 that is cut at flowering time, retted, washed, and 

 whipped, the fibre baled and shipped to twine 

 factories. Jute rugs and carpets do not last like 

 hemp. 



China jute is made from a plant that has come 

 into our gardens as a weed we call Indian mallow 

 and velvet-leaf. 



COIR 



The cocoa palm grows on the shores of tropical 

 countries, clustering its huge, three-angled nuts 

 under an umbrella of leaves. The nut is egg- 

 shaped, and the three-sided, smooth-rinded fruit 

 is the husk. The green husks contain coarse, 

 stiff, but elastic fibres that are made into door mats 

 and coco matting in this country. In Asia and 

 Europe, coir fibre is used for cables. The bulk of 

 the coir of commerce comes from Ceylon, and 

 from the southern shores of India and China. 



