244 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



taken at both ends and twisted opposite ways to squeeze out the sap. It is then to be -well 

 washed in plenty of water, untwisted, and scraped in small handfuls at a time on the board, 

 with an old blunt table-knife or a long piece of hoop-iron fastened into a straight handle. 

 When all impurities are removed, the fibres may be soaked for an hour or two in clear water, 

 and then hung up in the shade to dry. Exposure to the shn at first is apt to discolor them. 

 By this simple process fibres of great strength, of silky appearance, and of a good color, can 

 readily be prepared. The scrapings must be well washed, and set aside in the. shade to dry 

 as tow for packing, or as a material for making paper. 



The Indian plants, to the cleaning of which this process is applicable, are those of a fleshy 

 or pulpy nature, as the aloe, agave, sansiviera, and plantain genera, of which there are many 

 species. The prices offered in England for Indian fibres thus cleaned varied from 12 to 18 

 per ton, and were said to be only suitable for the manufacture of coarse twine or brown pack- 

 ing-paper. The finest plantain fibre, when carefully cleaned and dressed, was said to be 

 suited for the imitation of silk in carriage-braid and carpet-work. The average value put 

 upon fibres was 50 per ton, when Russian hemp was selling at 40 per ton. 



On the Cleaning of Plants having Bark and Woody Fibres. Many of the Indian cordage 

 plants are of this kind, and the native process of cleaning them is very similar to that fol- 

 lowed in cleaning fleshy and pulpy plants viz. by burying in sand or mud at the edge of a 

 tank or in a river, and leaving them to rot. There is this difference, however, that the plants 

 are steeped longer and are never exposed to the sun to dry, or stacked and covered with mat- 

 ting to be cleaned by dry beating. If this were done, the woody fibre would get hard and 

 brittle, and would again adhere to the other fibre, which, being partially rotten, would break 

 in the cleaning. To obviate this, the rotted plant is taken up in large handfuls and beaten on 

 flat stones, first at one end and then at the other ; they are next well rubbed and washed, to 

 separate the impurities, and are spread out on the ground to dry. We can hardly wonder 

 that most of the string and rope made from fibres prepared in this rude, coarse way should 

 be dark in color, possessed of no strength and of little value. As a general rule, every day's 

 steeping of a fibre takes from its strength and imparts more or less color. To obviate this, 

 woody plants should be first well beaten with a mallet ; then the bark should be separated 

 from the stalk, for it is on the inner part of the bark that the fibres for cordage usually occur. 

 W r hen the bark is brought to a pulpy state, it must be well washed in clean water, to remove 

 as much of the sap as possible, for this is the destructive agent which soon causes putrefac- 

 tion. The old mode of steeping or rotting flax-plants is quite abandoned in many districts, 

 as the water was found to be poisonous to cattle and fish, and the neighborhood where it 

 was carried on became feverish. The same remark has been made in India, and there are 

 many districts where flax is cultivated on account of the linseed, but the plant is burnt and 

 fibre wasted, lest cattle should be poisoned by eating it. In Flanders, where the greatest 

 care is bestowed on the growth of flax, the preparatory crops are barley and rye, with tur- 

 nips after them the same year. It is grown the third year of a seven-course rotation, or 

 the fifth year of a ten-course rotation. It is considered an exhausting crop, and the land 

 is richly manured and dressed with liquid manure ; the seed is then sown abundantly in the 

 proportion of one hundred and sixty pounds to the acre, a slight harrowing and the passing 

 of a light roller over the ground insuring quick germination. 



If the quality of the fibre be the chief object, the seed is sown thickly ; the plants come 

 up in a crowded manner, and are tall and of delicate growth. If the seed be the chief object, 

 thin sowing and exposure to the sun is the best, the stalks becoming strong and branched 

 with coarse fibre. The weeding of the flax forms a considerable item in the expense of its 

 cultivation. This is performed when the plant is a few inches high ; it is done by hoeing, or 

 by women and children, who with coarse cloths around their knees creep along on all-fours, 

 which injures the young plant less than walking upon them. The weeders also take care 

 to face the wind, that the tender flax, bent down by their weight, may be assisted in rising 

 again. When weeding is too long delayed, the plant is bruised and injured, and cannot re- 

 cover its erect position. Some tall and slender varieties are supported by stakes, lines, and 

 cords, about one foot or eighteen inches from the ground, or ropes are tied to stakes length- 

 wise and crosswise, so as to form a network all over the field. The time of pulling the crop 



