THE Com FIBRE INDUSTRY 121 



of powder, leaving it bare, clean and ready for the 

 market. In Malabar and other regions a great deal 

 of this work is done by women and children on 

 very low wages. When quite clean the finished 

 article is arranged into a loose roving preparatory 

 to being twisted, which is done between the palms 

 of the hands in a very ingenious way so as to 

 produce a yarn of two strands at once. In Ceylon 

 it is generally calculated that three large nuts will 

 yield six Ib. of coir. 



In the early days of the industry coir fibre was 

 employed almost solely as a substitute for horse- 

 hair in the stuffing of mattresses, cushions, etc., 

 but its scope has been so extended that to-day the 

 purposes it serves are innumerable. In the course 

 of time, thanks to ingeniously -constructed ma- 

 chinery, it has been rendered sufficiently fine for 

 the loom, and matting of different textures and 

 colours is now produced on a very large scale. It 

 is also made to combine with wool in the manu- 

 facture of carpets and rugs of great durability and 

 richness of effect, brushes and brooms for household 

 and stable purposes, matting for sheepfolds, 

 pheasantries and poultry yards ; string for nursery- 

 men and others for tying up trees and various 

 garden purposes ; nosebags for horses, mats and 

 bags for seed crushers, oil presses and candle 

 manufacture. The refuse of the husks is used by 

 horticulturists to cover soil in carpet bedding as a 



