26 THE YEAK-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



and a small portion of free oil. These enter into and through every part of the fibre. After 

 this treatment, it is washed, and is then found to be soft and silky, its spinning quality being 

 thereby much improved, and its value being very considerably increased; and, while the fibre 

 is not weakened, this process gives to it what is known in the trade as "nature." The im- 

 provement in quality may be estimated at from 8 to 10 per ton, and is capable of being 

 made with ease probably double. Dublin Journal of Industrial Progress. 



New Method of Cleaning- and Preparing the Plantain Fibre. 



VARIOUS attempts have been made at different times to construct a machine which would 

 prove effectual for cleaning in a simple and economical manner the fibre of the plantain. 

 Many expensive machines have been made and patented ; but all have failed when brought 

 into full operation, partly on account of the peculiar nature of the substance to be acted upon, 

 and partly through ignorance respecting its composition and qualities. All inventors have acted 

 on the principle of crushing the stem of the plant, and combing out the substance which fills up 

 the interstices between the fibres, thus freeing them from native impurities. This appears to 

 have been a false principle ; and is the chief, if not the only, reason of all the failures which 

 have resulted. 



The Hon. Francis Burke, of Montserrat, West Indies, who has been experimenting on this 

 subject for some time, has recently succeeded in completing a small machine which perfectly 

 cleans the plantain fibre, leaving a beautiful white, silky substance, resembling flax, only three 

 times as long. It is capable of being manufactured into any description of textile fabric, from 

 the quality of the finest cambric to that of the coarsest sail-cloth. 



This machine is said to combine simplicity of action with extreme cheapness. A piece of 

 the stem of the plant is held by one end in the hand, passed into the machine through the 

 "feeder," and, being still retained in the hand, is drawn out again perfectly clean and white. 

 These machines are of different dimensions, and may be worked by the hand or any other 

 motive-power according to its size. , 



A small machine worked by the hand costs but about fifteen dollars, and, with the assistance 

 of a boy to feed it, will clean one hundred and fifty pounds per day ; and is so portable that 

 it can be taken to the spot where the plantains grow, when they may be prepared in one day 

 ready for shipment. So small is the waste, that from 75 to 80 per cent, by weight of pre- 

 pared fibre is procured from the plant, irrespective of its watery particles. The waste sub- 

 stance is a valuable pulp, which may readily be converted into the finest writing-paper. The 

 pulp is estimated at a value equal to the cost of working, and the fibre is net profit. 



Transportation of Grain. 



THE transportation of grain from all the great wheat and corn-fields of the West is a sub- 

 ject which now requires a careful investigation, from the immense amount of expenditure 

 which it has been found to involve. The question is, simply, as to whether grain shall be 

 transported in bags or barrels ; and that a great saving is in favor of the latter it is our pur- 

 pose to establish. ^ 



By the present system of moving grain there is a continual waste from the harvest-field to 

 the mill, and until the flour is packed in tight, well-seasoned barrels. Western wheat is mostly 

 thrashed from an out-door stack, and piled and winnowed on the ground ; then bagged and 

 brought to market, where it is emptied into elevators, and stored in bulk ; the centre of the 

 pile often heating until its value is destroyed. It is then shipped in bulk, and when it arrives 

 at Buffalo, is transferred by elevators to a canal-boat, and thence to a storehouse in New York. 

 If it is finally sold for exportation, it is put up in bags suitable for shipping, after having 

 undergone a dozen different handlings. 



Now suppose the farmer had provided himself with barrels, and put up his grain on the 

 farm, dry and in good order. Each common flour-barrel will hold about three and one-third 

 bushels, for which the freight from Indianapolis to New York is about $1.40 to $1.60 per 

 barrel ; and, as a general rule, the charges on rolling freight on every line of railroad is from 



