312 MINOR FIBRE CROPS 



RAMIE 



Ramie (Fig. 206) is a crop well suited to the gulf region of the 

 United States. It likes an abundance of moisture in the atmos- 

 phere, but the soil must be well drained. The fibre is similar to 

 hemp in its qualities and uses. The plant is of a woody character 

 and is propagated by cuttings, but may also be increased by 

 division of the roots and by seeds. The root divisions are set out 

 in rows about four feet apart and the plants distanced at about 

 three feet in the rows. The fibre is not easily separated from the 

 tough, gummy bark, and until an economical process is devised, 

 its growth in this country is entirely experimental. 



JUTE 



This is an annual plant resembling hemp (Fig. 207), but 

 belonging to the same family as our linden trees, which are them- 

 selves supplied with a valuable fibre in the inner bark. The 

 climate for the growing of jute is about the same as for the growing 

 of cotton. It prefers a moist, warm climate and rich, black soil. 



About twenty pounds of seed may be sown broadcast about 

 corn planting time on soil well prepared as for corn. The harvesting 

 of the crop is done by means of corn knives, or the plants may be 

 pulled up by the roots. 



The difficulty in extracting the fibre from the stalks makes 

 the production on a commercial scale practically impossible in 

 the United States, but in India, where hand labor is cheap, jute 

 forms an important article of export. After cotton and sisal it 

 is perhaps the most extensively used plant fibre in American 

 manufactures, being used in the making of carpets, twine, bagging, 

 bale covering and other articles. The articles made of jute are 

 susceptible to moisture and decompose readily in moist atmos- 

 phere, or after being wet a few times. 



FIELD AND LABORATORY EXERCISES 



1. Seeds of Fibre Crops. In glass bottles make a collection of the seed 

 of each of the fibre crops, as flax, hemp and others. Label these and save for 

 future study. 



2. Oil in Flax Seed, etc. Examine seeds of flax for oil by cutting off the 

 seed coats, and then pressing the endosperm between two hard surfaces, as 

 a knife point and a piece of wood, or between the nails of your two thumbs. 

 Examine the oil pressed out. Make similar studies of the seeds of other fibre 

 crops. 



