FIBER-PRODUCING PLANTS 119 



Maguey. The maguey plant is closely related to the sisal 

 plant and is very similar to it. It is a native of Mexico, but 

 it is now grown in the Philippine Islands and in a few other 

 tropical climates. Maguey is cheaper than sisal and can be used 

 for the same purposes. 



Tampico Fiber, or Istle. This plant grows wild on the arid 

 mesas or table-lands of New Mexico, Texas, and Old Mexico. 

 It is used in the manufacture of brushes and cheap grades of twine. 



EXERCISES 



1. Ascertain from the market quotations in the paper the price of cotton 

 and calculate the worth of a crop averaging one fourth of a bale to the acre, 

 in a field of forty acres. 



2. If you live in the cotton belt, talk with a cotton buyer and get his 

 ideas in reference to buying and selling cotton. 



3. If no cotton is grown in your locality, correspond with schools in some of 

 the cotton-growing States and get them to make reports to you in return for 

 reports on products grown in your State. 



4. Which is the most valuable, a crop of forty acres of corn or forty acres 

 of cotton ? Why ? 



QUESTIONS 



1. Name some of the leading plant fiber crops. 



2. Give a brief history of cotton. 



3. Name the principal varieties of cotton. 



4. Discuss the American Upland cotton. 



5. Describe (a) India cotton, (6) Sea Island cotton. 



6. Discuss Egyptian cotton and Peruvian cotton. 



7. Discuss the culture of cotton. 



8. Name and describe the different kinds of cotton gins. 



9. Discuss cotton judging. 



10. Name some of the products of cotton. 



11. Give a brief history of the flax plant. 



12. Explain the method of grading flax. 



13. Discuss the cultivation of hemp and jute. 



14. Describe (a) ramie, (6) manila fiber, (c) sisal. 



15. Discuss (a) the maguey plant, (6) Tampico fiber or istle. 



16. How many kinds of fibers can you find about home ? 



17. Bring samples of cloth, rope, carpet, matting, etc., and try to find out 

 what kind of fiber is used in each. 



REFERENCES 



Flax Culture, Orange Judd Co. Hemp, S. S. Boyce. The Story of the Cotton 

 Plant, F. Wilkinson. Cotton and Cotton Oil, D. A. Tomkins. Cyclo- 

 pedia of American Agriculture, L. H. Bailey. 



