332 ' Remarks on the Amve and other Plants. 



fci' 



Bromelia, of Pandanus, of Aloes, &c. &c., whose clippings will test 

 the relative value of their leaves for thread, twine and cordage. 

 The Ticu Palm mentioned as a substitute for flax and hemp by the 

 Rev. Mr. Walsh in his notice of Brazil, in 1822, and the Sago Palm 

 of Rumphius cited by you, on account of the superior fibres of its 

 leaves, will certainly grow with the Cocoanut Palm which exists at 

 Cape Florida ; and if the leaves of the Musa textilis should indeed 

 yield the manilla hemp,* as mentioned by you on the authority of 

 Mr. Crawford, we can insure its flourishing with its brothers, the 

 M. paradisiaca and M. sapientum in the tropical half of E. Florida. 



The southern states have already their native Yuccas, which may 

 be augmented by the Y. acaulis or Magauy de Cocuy of Caraccas, 

 or any other foreign species which may be superior to our own. 

 As preferable substitutes for hemp, we may translate from Yuca- 

 tan to Florida, the cultivated Sacqui and Yashqui of Sisal, or the 

 prickly or prickless leaved Agaves which yield very different quali- 

 ties of Henequin, which may soon be increased by the Haytien spe- 

 cies cited by yourself, and by every other species or variety possess- 

 ing peculiar properties to be found in any part of the West Indies or 

 Spanish America. 



The Yucca filamentosa, the Agave Sisala, and the fibrous leaved 

 plants in general, are superior to flax and hemp plants, in being per- 

 ennial, flourishing in the worst soils and situations, requiring little 

 care or cultivation, and furnishing leaves for cutting every day in the 

 year. The preparation for market, or the extraction of the paral- 

 lel longitudinal fibres of the fresh leaves by scraping only, is the most 

 simple operation possible for either the hand or machinery, f and 

 hence the article when prepared for market, must be much cheaper 

 than that from flax or hemp, and as they are also lighter, and more 

 elastic, their relative and positive prices will give to the former a 

 preference for all the purposes in offering a competition between 

 them. 



The wild plants called Ixtla which abound in the country watered 

 by the rivers Tobasco and Goazacoalcos, and from which the Pita of 

 Mexico, is obtained, would readily be mistaken in the first stages of 

 their growth for the cultivated pine-apple plants, but at no period 



* I am induced to believe that thiese fibres are obtained from some other Brome- 

 iiaceous plants. 



\ My invention can be expressed in two words ; — Rotary Scraper, 



