208 MISCELLANEOUS FIBRES 



thorny margins have been stripped off, the leaves are 

 scraped on a hard, wooden block by means of a blunt 

 iron knife, and the fibre thus obtained is subsequently 

 spread out in the sun to dry. 



The fibre is commonly known in commerce by the 

 name of the district in which it is produced. The 

 Jaumave fibre is the best quality, the Tula is shorter 

 and coarser, and the Matamoras is rather soft and 

 inferior to the other kinds in length and colour. 



The fibre somewhat resembles Sisal hemp in appear- 

 ance, but is more wiry and of a pale yellow colour. 

 It is in considerable demand as a substitute for animal 

 bristles for the manufacture of cheap scrubbing brushes 

 and nail brushes. 



During 1913, the price of Mexican fibre in the 

 London market varied, according to the quality of 

 the product, from 20 to 30 per ton. Towards the 

 middle of 1914, the value of the fibre rose to 40- 

 60, and during 1915, it was quoted at prices ranging 

 from 32 to 70 per ton. 



ITALIAN WHISK OR BROOM CORN FIBRE 



The broom corn or broom millet is a variety of 

 Sorghum vulgare which has round, cane-like stems, 

 bearing panicles or seed-heads with long, wiry, straight, 

 nearly erect branches which constitute the brush or 

 whisk. The plant is cultivated extensively in the 

 United States, Italy and elsewhere, and is also grown 

 on a commercial scale in New South Wales. It has 

 been cultivated experimentally in the British West 

 Indies and in Nyasaland, and samples of the brush 

 from the latter country have been examined at the 

 Imperial Institute (Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, 

 1915, XIII, 201). 



Italian whisk usually consists of 2 or 3 inches of 

 the stem surmounted by a brush of stiff, stout, golden 

 yellow stalks, of a uniform length of about 2 feet. It 

 is employed for the manufacture of the whisk brushes 

 used by hair-dressers, drapers, and others. 



