Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 341 



I am satisfied it would flourish in low, wet and rich lands of our 

 country, and the yield would be enormous. I am satisfied it would 

 pay, as this plant grows like a cane-brake and would require no culti- 

 vation. It might be expensive to get it set, but once established I 

 am satisfied no tedious labor would be required to render it mer- 

 chantable. A mowing machine would cut it and the balance would 

 be easy. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller — The plant is the so-called American jiite and 

 one of the many native species of hibiscus. About ten years ago jST. 

 S. Contelo patented a process for separating the fiber, but I have 

 never heard whether it was successful or otherwise. This jute plant 

 belongs to the great mallow family, where we also find the okra, cot- 

 ton, shrubby altbea of our gardens, and hundreds of other plants 

 cultivated either for ornament or some more useful purpose. The 

 bark of all contains fibrous material in large or small quantities, and 

 there is no good reason why some of our native species should not be 

 largely cultivated for their fiber. The most common species is the 

 one known as musk or swamp mallows {hibiscus moscheutos), and may 

 be found in great abundance in the salt marshes near the sea shore. 

 It also grows in low grounds as far west as the Mississippi. The 

 flowers are rose color, but occasionally pure white. At the west there 

 is one called the halberd-leaved; another which is known as the large 

 flowering or grandiflorus. At the south they have the prickly-leaved 

 and the great red flowering, but the fiber in the stems is nearly the 

 same in all. I have cultivated the different species in my garden for 

 the past fifteen years, and found that they thrive equally as well in 

 dry as in wet soils. Seed is produced in great abundance, and there 

 would be no difficulty in raising plants enough to supply the world. 

 The root is perennial, and when a plant is once established it will 

 take care of itself. 



Mr. J. B. Lyman — It is doubtful whether we have a better jute- 

 plant that prospers more in this country, and is more valuable for 

 other purposes than cotton. If a cotton stalk is taken at the right 

 time, before frost and rains have rotted the bark, an excellent tough 

 jute can be made from it. The practical difficulty, in this and a score 

 of similar instances, is that labor is too dear for the American farmer 

 or planter to think of utilizing all the useful things that grow around 

 him. In going into the jute business he would put himself in com- 

 petition with half-naked East Indians, who will work contentedly all 

 day for ten cents' worth of rice. 



