Mechanical Extraction of Fibre 567 



The next process is to pass the husks through 

 a powerful crusher so as to break down the 

 lignified matter and flatten and soften the husk 

 so as to prepare it for the " fibre extractor." 



We now proceed to the extraction of the 

 fibres from the crushed husks. There are two 

 machines for doing 1 this, one is called the 

 " Breaker," the other the "Finisher," and they 

 are generally worked together. In appearance 

 these machines are similar, the only difference 

 being that the steel teeth of the " Breaker" are 

 set a little further apart than the teeth of the 

 "Finisher" (see illustration p. 566). 



The workman now takes a piece of the husk 

 in his hand, passes it between the two feed 

 rollers on to the steel teeth of the " Breaker," 

 which at once frees the fibre from the shell 

 (i.e., the outer husk, not the kernel shell) ; he 

 then withdraws the piece of husk and re-inserts 

 it at the other end, when a similar operation 

 takes place. He then passes the fibre that 

 he has extracted from the husk to his fellow 

 workman, who puts it over the " Finisher" in 

 a similar manner, so as to complete the opera- 

 tion of "combing" or "extracting" a further 

 layer of fibre from off this outside husk or 

 shell. The fibre left in his hand is known as 

 "bristle" or "brush" fibre; the other fibre 

 extracted from the " Breaker " is kept separate 

 from that extracted by the " Finisher," as there 

 is a difference in their quality. 



The " brush " fibre is then dried and 



