Vegetable Materials for Cordage, ^e. 2f7 



Art. II. — On some of the Vegetable Materials from which Cordage, 

 Twine and Thread, are made; by James Mease, M.D., Mem- 

 ber of the American Philosophical Society, he. he. ■ 



(Communicated for this Journal.) 



The two first vegetables that deserve to be noticed, as being most 

 generally known to the countries in which Christianity prevails, are, 

 1. Hemp, Cannabis saiiva ; 2. Flax, Linum usitatissimum. On 

 these no farther remarks are necessary. 



In India the fibres of several vegetables, and different vegetable 

 productions, are extensively employed for the same purpose ; the 

 principal of which are the following. 



1. Crotalaria juncea, L. ; sana,* or sun-plant. This is exten- 

 sively cultivated throughout India, and also in the island of Sumatra, 

 according to Marsden, to make small ropes and twine. The Rev. 

 Mr. Carey says there are two varieties of this plant, one of which 

 grows ten or twelve feet high : the seeds of another are sown in Octo- 

 ber, and rises to the height of four or five feet. The first variety is 

 preferred. f The reason for this preference, according to Milburn, 

 is^ 1st, the difference in the size of the two plants ; and 2d, the cir- 

 cumstance of the lateral branches which shoot out from the smaller 

 variety, and which render the fibres very difficult to be separated 

 from the woody part. The mode of separating the fibre is extreme- 

 ly simple, as are all the mechanical operations in India. When the 

 seed vessels have nearly attained their full si2;e, the plants are cut, 

 tied in bundles, and steeped in water for two or three days ; then ta- 

 ken out, and the stalks broken about a foot from the lower end by a 

 man standing up to his knees in water, who, holding a few of the. 

 stalks with the large ends from him, threshes the water with them, 

 till the broken pieces are separated, and fall off. Then turning them, 

 he takes hold of the fibres which have been freed, and beats the small 

 ends in the same manner, until the fibre is entirely separated from 

 the stalks. A few strokes are sufficient. It is then dried and pack-^ 



* Dr. Francis Buchanan gives two Indian names to this plant, viz. Janupa, Trav- 

 els, Vol. i. p. 226, and Shanapv,, Vol. ii. p. 227. Milburn ?ays that the large vari- 

 ety is called Ghore sunn: the fibre is called Jute. Oriental Commerce, Vol. ii. p. 

 210. 



i On the Agriculture of Diaajpur. Trans. Asiatic Soc. Vol. x. p'. 11. 



