AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 309 



be more than one hundred feet higher than it now is. James 

 Madison, after being President of this Republic, was elevated to 

 that of President of an Agricultural Society — when he delivered 

 an opinion so original and scientific that it has neither precedent 

 nor copy. He said tliat " God gave the globe to man to com- 

 mand, to till and adorn it ; that, therefore, he adapted the man 

 to the soil and the soil to the man." That on level lands covered 

 with vegetation since the deluge, the average depth of soil is one 

 foot only. 



[Journal of the Society of Arts, July 10, 1857.] 



From this very valuable work, we extract the following excel- 

 lent article on Fibre, for which the society has invited informa- 

 tion, and has received a deluge of new ones : 



HIMALAYA HEMP. 



A short time ago, a London rope maker, received several bales 

 of Himalaya hemp, at about £30, ($150) a ton. On opening sev- 

 eral bales it was ibund that the hemp was twisted into little lots, 

 about the thickness of a finger, and as tight as the strand of a 

 rope. The hackling of it cost five times as much per hundred 

 weight as Russian hemp. It was repacked and sold at auction at 

 a loss of 50 per cent. The mode of retting, (rotting) in Bombay, 

 depreciates it to less than 40 per cent. Instead of steeping it in 

 water, it is buried in sand or mud, by the side of a river; this 

 increases its weight 14 to 20 per cent — not only to the partial 

 ruin of the material, but to the ruin of our poor workmen, owing 

 to the fine sand getting into their lungs, death has ensued. Sev- 

 eral bales of pressed packed flax straw, have lately been imported 

 from Australia, and sold at auction, at a high price, X5. 5.0 per 

 ton, ($26.) Large quantities of flax straw, are sold here at ($20) 

 per ton and less. But the expenses of importation from Austra- 

 lia, are swallowed up in freight charges, &c. 



THE RHEEA-FIBRE, OF INDIA. 



Is a species of China grass. It is worth more than all the other 

 fibres of India put together. It is adapted to general purposes in 

 a most extraordinary degree, from the finest thread to the coarsest 

 canvass and cordage. Its strength is unequalled, and resists damp 



