50 SUGGESTED TRIALS OF PITA FIBRE. 
herds of deer, &c., but also in assisting in saving the soil, a 
road or a railway, from being covered with the sand blown 
from the desert. The leaves would form a continual source of 
employment for the people, in separating an abundant supply 
of material for cordage. This will, at all events, be sufficiently 
good for all agricultural purposes, for the harnessing of cattle, 
the baling of produce, and for the rigging of vessels employed 
in river navigation. The fibre is also sufficiently good to form 
an exportable article of considerable value, especially as the 
prejudice against white cordage will by degrees be removed, 
and the tow will be invaluable for the manufacture of paper. 
It is desirable that some comparative experiments should be 
made on the age at which the leaves should be collected, and 
on how long they should be steeped. Also, whether this process 
is necessary at all; that is, whether the fibre may not be 
separated by mechanical means. The climate best suited to 
the growth of the strongest fibre should be ascertained, as well 
as what are the differences of quality between the fibre of 
different species of Agave. Also, the susceptibility of different 
kinds to the effects of moisture, either with or without super- 
ficial tarring. In the preparation of the cordage submitted to 
trial, care should be taken that the fibres are so prepared as to 
cut each other as little as possible when twisted ; and also that 
the cordage is made by a regular rope-maker. Under the head 
of Plantain and of Moorva (v. p. 53) fibre, we shall consider the 
quantity of fibre producible from a certain number of such 
plants, and also the price at which it may probably be produced. 
Littaceous Piants. 
Liliaceous plants, from their generally ornamental nature, 
have attracted attention from the earliest ages to the present 
time, and Our Saviour selected the flower of one of these 
(Lilium chalcedonicum) as a type of the beautiful productions 
of nature. The plants are usually herbaceous, though some 
few are shrubby, and even arboreous; most are distinguished 
by their narrow parallel-veined leaves: of these, some are soft, 
herbaceous, and succulent ; others hard and perennial. Of the 
latter many abound in fibre, which may be, and is, extracted 
for useful purposes ; as Aloe, Sanseviera, Phormium, &c, 
