CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



the fine qualities obtained from Manila, but it is 

 produced in almost every country in which the 

 plants of the natural order J/KMCNT are grown. 



Ctir is the coarse woody fibre from the husk or 

 pericarp of the cocoa-nut (Cr*r ttxaftrm)* It is 

 the only product of the palm tribe (Palmate*) 

 which is used in Britain for textile purposes, 

 although no order yields a greater abundance of 

 useful fibres. Coir is chiefly used in the manu- 

 facture of matting, for which it is now very 

 extensively employed. 



The beautiful Chinese linen called gr*$s-cto& is 

 now known to be made from the fibres of a plant 

 closely allied to the common nettle namely, 

 BmAmtri* jmv*, and one or two other species of 

 die same genus, all of which grow in India as 

 well as in China. In the former country, it is 

 generally called Rkttm fibre; and in the latter, 

 7V4 MM, or China-grass. When properly 

 dressed, it is perhaps the most beautiful of all 

 known vegetable fibres ; but neither in India nor 

 in Europe has the art of dressing it after the 

 Chinese method yet been learned. Much atten- 

 tion is now being paid to it, and rewards are 

 offered by die Indian government for any inven- 

 tion which will enable the fibre to be properly and 

 economically prepared. 



The most important of all the ligneous fibres 

 used for weaving purposes in Europe, after flax, is 

 jute, the produce of Contents capsttlmrisj a plant 

 of die same natural order as die lime or linden 

 tree (Tih'afer\ which yields die bast of which die 

 Archangel mats are made. At die beginning of 

 die present century, jute was quite unknown in 

 Europe; indeed, it is little more dian thirty years 

 since it began to be regularly used in our manu- 

 factories. Since dien, its development has been 

 enormous, chiefly in Dundee, where from 50,000 

 to 60,000 tons are annually consumed. It is 

 chiefly used in die manufacture of sacking, and 

 die bagging called gunny-clodi; but it is also 

 employed in carpet-making and for ornamental 

 matting, c. The fibre of jute is very long from 

 five to eight feet ; and die difficulties of dressing 

 and spinning it into a yarn were at first very 

 formidable, and prevented its earlier introduction. 

 Now, die shipments of dus fibre to Great Britain 

 amount to over 200,000 tons annually. 



COTTON. 



The plants which yield cotton belong to die 

 natural order Alffvaaaf, and die genus Gessy- 

 ptmm, of which about four species are supposed 

 to yield die cotton of commerce. G. kartacatm 

 of Linnaeus yields die cotton of India, China, 

 Egypt, and Italy; G. tutereum yields a small 

 quantity only of East Indian cotton, and it is 

 uncertain if it is exported ; G. Bartadensf yields 

 die West Indian cotton, and die celebrated Sea 

 Island and other varieties from dte United 

 States ; and G. Pentviaaatm yields die cotton from 

 Brazil, Pernambuco, Maranham, and other parts 

 of South America. 



Cotton -wool is merelv an appendage to die 

 seeds of die plant, which produces it apparently 

 for die purpose of protecting die seeds from die 

 effects of damp, which is very injurious to th^-m 

 for die fibre is produced in die greatest abundance 

 and of die longest staple in countries where, with 

 die necessary high temperature, diere is also a 



large amount of moisture in the atmosphere a 

 fact which is very generally lost sight of by those 

 who seek to improve the quality of cultivation 

 by careful culture in countries where the more 

 important condition of atmospheric humid. 

 wanting. Few plants which are cultivated for 

 useful purposes are more beautiful than the cotton. 

 In a congenial climate and good soil, it grows 

 about four feet high, and has a much branched 

 bushy appearance. Its beautiful hollyhock-like 

 flowers are produced in great profusion, and of 

 various shades of rose-colour or yellow. The 

 flowers consist of five petals in a cup-shaped 

 calyx, surrounded by diree broad bracts. They 

 are succeeded by a pretty large capsule or pod, 

 technically, in America, called the Ml, It has 

 from diree to five compartments, in each of which 

 lie die seeds, closely packed in their woolly cover- 

 ing, which is so hard pressed around diem as to 

 have a solid appearance just before perfect ripe- 

 ness. When ripe, die capsule opens in several 

 segments, and the woolly covering of die seeds 

 loosens and expands around diem, so as to lift 

 diem out and expose them to be blown away by 

 die wind. They are gadiered by die hand before 

 dus takes place, and being removed from the bolls, 

 await die process of removing the wool from the 

 seeds, to which it is firmly attached. There are 

 two methods employed for the separation of die 

 seed from its woolly covering. The more simple 

 one is called fovring, and is performed by beating 

 it widi a string tightly stretched to a wooden bow ; 

 dus method is very effective, and does not injure 

 die fibre, but it is slow. The other is called 

 ginning, die seeds being made to pass through 

 an apparatus called a^ur, which has a number of 

 spikes or teeth so arranged as to pull die wool off 

 without crushing the seed. This is an expeditious 

 method ; but an ill-constructed gin is very liable 

 to break die delicate fibres. Saw-gins, consisting 

 of a series of circular-saws, are in much favour at 

 present; but die construction of die cotton-gin 

 varies much, and it is by no means settled which 

 is die best for die purpose. 



If examined by die unassisted eye, die fine soft 

 hairs from die cotton-seed appear perfectly smooth, 

 and usually of a snowy whiteness ; but no fibre is 

 of any value for die purposes of die spinner which 

 has a perfectly smooth surface ; and die microscope 

 reveals to us diat each fibre is really a flat ribbon, 

 which is bordered on each side with a raised and 

 rounded edge, die section of which is like two as 

 connected by a straight line, thus o o; but die 

 rounded edges often run off from one side to die 

 other of die fibre, and thus give its flattened surface 

 an appearance of being diagonally ribbed. Its chief 

 economic value depends upon this construction, 

 and renders it of all known fibres die most perfectly 

 adapted for die spinner's purposes. It admits 

 of being drawn out and twisted into a thread or 

 yarn finer than any odier ; a pound of cotton has 

 been spun of such extreme tenuity as to exceed a 

 diousand miles in length. 



The qualities of cotton used for manufacturing 

 purposes are various ; die most valuable is that 

 known as ' Sea Island,' which is cultivated on the 

 low marshy islands and plains on die coast of 

 Georgia and South Carolina, in die United States 

 of America. The staple of this quality is long 

 and silky. The short-stapled quality, know: 

 Bowed or Upland Georgia, is produced in immense 



