DECORTICATION 79 



constructed scraper knife fixed in a bamboo framing, or merely 

 by scraping them with a flat piece of wood. The Maories 

 extract the fibre from the leaves of the New Zealand hemp 

 plant in an extremely primitive fashion. They select full- 

 grown leaves, and after cutting them off the plant, proceed 

 to remove the fibre while the leaves are still green. The only 

 appliance used, if such it may be called, is a large shell. 

 With this an incision is made, just through the skin on each 

 side of the leaf, and the epidermis removed. The fibres 

 which are thus exposed are then scraped free of gummy and 

 pulpy matter with the shell and subsequently dried in the sun. 



The natives of Mexico often separate the fibre of the 

 Sisal hemp plant by hand, after thoroughly beating the fresh 

 leaf with a mallet on a wooden block, by drawing the leaf 

 between two metal blades held in contact under a slight 

 pressure. After drawing, the fibre is washed and dried in 

 Ihe sun. 



Like stem fibres, the separation of many leaf fibres is con- 

 siderably facilitated by fermentation and washing. 



Apart from primitive native methods, the long flat leaves 

 of the New Zealand hemp plant are cut down and subjected 

 -to the action of a stripper similar to the flax scutcher's 

 handles, which detaches much of the bark. The partially 

 cleaned fibre is then put into a trough through which water 

 circulates and is washed and scraped with a flat piece of wood. 

 The fibre is then grassed and partially bleached by the action 

 of the sun and air, after which it undergoes a further 

 scutching process which softens, cleans, and renders it a sale- 

 able article. The separation of the fibre from the leaves of 

 several plants of the aloe species is also facilitated by soaking 

 the previously crushed leaves in water in order to separate 

 the soft parts en masse. 



The purely mechanical separation of leaf fibres is resorted 

 to in the case of several tropical plants, either because the 

 supply of water is limited, or because the succulent pulp 



