152 TEXTILE FIBRES. (^' 



grows in immense groves. It was introduced into this country "in 1690, 

 and is certainly one of the most extensively useful palms [we know. 

 London says : " The leaf, when reduced to fine fibres, is the material of 

 which a beautiful and costly carpeting is fabricated for those in the 

 higher ranks. The coarse fibres are made into brooms. After these 

 useful materials are taken from the leaf, the stem still remains about the 

 thickness of the ankle, and furnishes firewood." 





Fig. 99. Brown Coir fibres. 



The fruit of the plant is about the size of a man's head. 



The outer covering is the husky pericarp or fibrous portion. It is 

 often broken open longitudinally by a small hatchet, which is held in 

 the right hand while the pericarp which receives the blows is in the left 

 hand. It is generally broken into two parts, which are sometimes sold 

 as scrubbers, without any further preparation, to the housewives of 

 operatives in the North of England, at the rate of seven for sixpence. 



