604 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 10 



liowfiver, is, that the cost of operatiriir the electro- 

 maLnieiic apparatus, will be iiiucli below that ol' 

 ■the steam engine. 



From the Maga/.inr. of Populru Science. 

 THE PINE-APPLE PLAXT AND ITS FIBRE. 



This plant, which has hiilierto been vaiueil 

 dolely as ministering to the luxuries of the table, 

 has lately had a new Interest attached to it Ironi 

 tlie discovery of a fibre contained in its leaves, 

 possessing such valuable properties, that it will, 

 in all probility, soon form a new and important ar- 

 ticle of commerce. 



This fibre is found, on comparison, far to sur- 

 pass in delicacy of texture, those materials which 

 now form the basis of our woven manufactures: 

 .of these the principal are silk, wool, cotton, and 

 flax. Silk is a continuous fibre, often extending, 

 without interruption, to the lenirih of 1000 feet; 

 viewed under the microscope, it is found to be 

 perfectly cylindrical, beautitliliy smooth, glossy, 

 «nd transparent. The best kind of prepared silk 

 \'aries fi'om one-seventeen hundredth, to one- 

 two thousandth part of an inch in diameter. 

 Wool, on the other hand, is a rough cylindrical 

 fibre, which appears as if plated with irregular 

 scales, the edges of which overlap each other; 

 though invisible to the naked eye, its roughnes 

 may be easily detected, bydrawinga fibre between 

 the fingers, in a direction from its end to its root. 

 It varies greatly in both length and size, the diame- 

 ter of very fine wool being from one-seven hun- 

 dredth to one-twelve hundredth part of an inch. 

 Cotton, being the down of a seed-pod, has pecu- 

 liar characters, a thin conlinu)Us tube, presenting 

 the appearance of a flattened and twisted cylin- 

 der, arising from the compression which the fibre 

 undergoes before the opening of the pod: its di- 

 ameter is about the thousandth part of an inch. 

 Flax, in many repects, ditii^rs from the foregoing 

 materials; a filament of silk, wool, or cotton, ad- 

 mits of no division, while, on the other hand, 

 each filament of flax is a fasciculus or bundle of 

 fine fibres, connected by a thin membrane, and 

 the natural gluten of the plant. These fibres 

 may be termed ultimate, as they admit of no fur- 

 ther subdivision: they are cylindrical tubes, dis- 

 posed parallel to each other, and having the ap- 

 pearance of innumerable joints ; their diameter 

 varies, in difl'erent flaxes, from one seven hun- 

 dreth to one two-thousand five hundreth part of 

 an inch. 



The fibres of the pine-apple plant are also dis- 

 posed in fasciculi, each apparent fibre being an as- 

 semblage of fibres adhering together, of such ex- 

 ceeding delicacy, as only to measure from one 

 five-thousandth to one seven-thousandth part oi 

 an inch in diameter; viewed under the micros- 

 cope, they bear considerable resemblance to silk, 

 from their glossy, even, and smooth texture. 

 They appear altogether destitute of joints, or 

 other irregularities, and are remarkably transpa- 

 rent, particularly when viewed in water: they are 

 very elastic, of great strength, and readily receive 

 the most delicate dyes. This last fact appears 

 singular, when we bear in mind the resistance, it 

 we may be allowed the expression, which flax of- 

 lera to dyes. With much trouble, and long pro- 

 cesses, flax will receive a few dark dingy colors; 



all light and brilliant ones it wholly resists, they 

 do not enter the fibre, but merely dry upon it ex- 

 ternally, and afterwards peel, or rub off — in short, 

 it mivy he said to ha painted, and not dyed. 



The preparation of the pine-fibre is exceeding- 

 ly simple. If a leaf of this plant be examined, it 

 will be found to consist of an assemblage of fibres 

 running parallel, from one extremiiy of the leaf to 

 the other, embedded in the soft ptibulum. All the 

 process necessary is to pass the leaf under a "tilt 

 hammer," the rapid action of which, in a few sec- 

 onds, completely crushes it, without in the slight- 

 est degree injuring the fibre, which remains in a 

 lame skein, and then requires to be rinsed out in 

 soft water, to cleanse it horn its impurities, and be 

 afterwards dried in the sliade. So simple and so 

 rapid is the process, that a leaf, in a quarter of an 

 hour after being cut from the plant, maybe in a 

 state, fit for the purposes of the manufacturer, as 

 a glofsy, white fibre, with its strength unimpaired 

 by any process of maceration, which, by inducing 

 partial putrefiiciion. not only materially injures 

 the strength, of flax, but also renders it of a din- 

 gy color. 



The pine-plant abounds both in our East and 

 West India possessions, and may be easily propa- 

 gated from the crown; the offsets fi'om round the 

 base of the fruit, which ofien amount to upwards 

 of twenty in number; and fi'om the young plants 

 which spring from the parent stem; its cultivation 

 requires but little care or ex|)ense, and the plant 

 is of such hardy growth, as to be almost indepen- 

 dent of those ctisualties of weather, which often 

 prove so detrimental to more delicate crops — it is 

 one of those plants which nature has scattered 

 su profusely through tropical regions, whose leave 

 are thick and fleshy, to contain a large su|)ply of 

 nourishment, and covered by a thick glazed cuti- 

 cle, which admits of so little evaporation, that 

 many of the tribe will thrive upon a barren rock, 

 where no other plant could live. From the large 

 portion oj" oxalic acid which the leaves also con- 

 tain, no animal will touch them, and they are, 

 therefore, exempt from the trespasses of cattle, 

 &c., indeed, no greater proof of the hardiness of 

 the plant can be given, than the fact, that in many 

 places where lands have been under tillage, and 

 have afterwards been abandoned, and allowed to 

 to return to a state of nature, the pine-apple plants 

 form the only trace of former cultivation; every 

 other cultivated plant has died away before the 

 encroachmeats of the surrounding wood, while 

 they alone have remained increasing from year to 

 year, and have spread into large beds. 



In adverting to the present state of our West 

 Indian colonies, we cannot but; hink that the dis- 

 covery of this fibre will prove to them a most val- 

 uable acquisition. The small amount of labor 

 and capital requisite for the cultivation of the 

 plant, its hardy growth, its abundant produce, the 

 iticility with u'hich the fibre may be prepared from 

 its leaves, the trifling cost at which it can be 

 brought to market, and the value attached to it, as 

 an article of coiiimerce, by those manufacturers 

 to whom it has been submitted, seen fully to jus- 

 tify the opinion that it is calculated to open a new 

 source of wealth to the colonies, and become a 

 staple and valuable article of British manufac- 

 ture. 



