586 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



Palma istle is obtained from the inner leaves of yuccas, known 

 in Mexico as palmas. The species producing most of this fiber is 

 called palma samandoca (So/muella carnerosana) . This plant has a 

 trunk 6 to 15 inches in diameter, and attains a height of 6 to 15 

 feet, bearing at the top a dense cluster of sword-like leaves, 20 to 30 

 inches long. Some of the palma istle is produced by the plant known 

 as palma loco, or palma pita ( Yucca treculeana) , found in Coahuila 

 and Nueva Leon. This yucca is very similar in appearance to palma 

 samandoca, though usually with shorter trunk and longer leaves. 

 The central cluster of unopened young leaves is collected and 

 cleaned in the same manner as the leaves of the lechuguilla plants, 

 except that they have to be steamed two to four hours to loosen the 

 tissues before tne pulp can be scraped out. The fiber is discolored 

 by the steaming process, but this is partly corrected by bleaching in 

 the sun as it dries. 



Palma istle fiber is 15 to 35 inches in length, usually coarser 

 and stiffer than sisal, yellow in color, and somewhat gummy. Tula 

 istle is 12 to 30 inches long and nearly white in color. Jaumave istle 

 is 20 to 40 inches long, rarely longer, almost white, and nearly as 

 strong and flexible as sisal. Istle fiber nas long been used as a substi- 

 tute for bristles in the manufacture of brushes, and it is now being 

 employed in increasing quantities in the cheaper grades of twine, 

 such as lath twine, baling rope, and medium grades of cordage. In- 

 troduced at first as an adulterant or substitute for better fibers, it 

 seems destined to find, through improved processes of manufacture, 

 a legitimate place in the cordage industry. If machines are devised 

 for cleaning this fiber in a satisfactory manner it is thought that 

 the thousands of acres of lechuguilla plants in western Texas may 

 be profitably utilized. (Y. B. 1903.) 



UNCULTIVATED BAST FIBERS. 



The indigenous or uncultivated species of plants producing bast 

 fiber in the United States and Canada form an interesting group in 

 the fiber series. They are the subject of constant inquiry, as the 

 masses of their filaments, disintegrated and semi-bleached on the 

 parent stalk by the winter storms often attract the attention of the 

 farmer, who, regarding his discovery as new, and considering it the 

 source of a valuable, undeveloped industry, writes the Department 

 to learn the name and history of the species. 



For the most part the species under consideration belong to 

 three large families of plants: The Malvaceae; of which the cotton 

 plant is a member; the Asclepidacece, and the Leguminosce. The 

 malvaceous species are the most numerous, and possibly the most 

 widely distributed, their fiber possessing fair strength, comparing 

 with jute, rather than with flax and hemp, though whiter in color 

 than the former. These might be considered as "jute substitutes," 

 while the species belonging to the two other families, and which give 

 stronger fiber, may be termed "hemp substitutes," and are, therefore, 

 the more valuable. 



That these fibers are not employed commercially is due to sev- 

 eral causes, the machine question being an important factor. The 



