288 ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



twenty-two per cent. The crude fibre is yellowish or 

 whitish, and has a length sometimes of over three feet. 

 According to Labillardiere, the comparative strength of 

 Silk, New Zealand Flax, Hemp, and Flax are represented 

 by 100, 60, 48, and 34J. The New Zealand Flax is used 

 extensively in making ropes, mats, etc. 



268. Several species of Aloe, especially A. perfoliata, of 

 the family lAliaceoB, yield the Aloe Fibre. This is whitish 

 and somewhat lustrous ; it is soft and flexible, has a length 

 of eight to twenty inches, and a maximum thickness of 

 .00295-.00413 inches. It contains when air-dry ten per 

 cent., and when in a saturated atmosphere eighteen per 

 cent., of water. The fibre consists simply of bast-cells 

 having thick walls, the cavity being one-third the diameter 

 of the cell. The cells are cylindrical and pointed. The 

 common Aloe fibre is used in the manufacture of ropes 

 and cables, and the finest in the manufacture of cloth 

 (Aloe-cloth). 



269. Musa textilis (family Scitaminem) is much like the 

 Banana-tree, fifteen to twenty feet high, with dark-green 

 leaves. It is cultivated on the Moluccas, the Philippine 

 Islands, etc. From it and other species of the same genus 

 the Manila Hemp, called also Siam Hemp, Plantain 

 Fibre, and White Rope, is obtained. The leaves contain 

 fibres, but they are not very strong, and are not used. 

 Those of the stem or trunk are obtained as follows: The 

 tree when five or six inches in diameter is felled and 

 subjected to a process of retting and then passed through 

 iron combs. The fibres in -the centre of the stem are finer 

 than those near the periphery. The fine fibres have a 

 length of two yards, and the coarse ones are longer; the 

 usual thickness of the former is one-half inch; of the latter, 



