282 



FIBER PLANTS 



FIBER PLANTS 



(1) Occidental cottons, of American origin. 

 Gossypium hirmtum, Linn. American upland 



cotton, native in tropical America, now cultivated 

 from Virginia to Texas and Oklahoma, also in 

 Mexico, Argentina, Turkestan and in many parts of 

 India. 



Gossypium Barbadense, Linn/ Sea-island cotton, 

 native in tropical America, now cultivated on the 

 islands and adjacent shores of South Carolina, and 

 through the interior of southern Georgia and north- 

 ern Florida, also in the West Indies ; and Egyptian 

 cotton, cultivated in Egypt and recently introduced 

 in the colonies in both East and West Africa. 



Gossypium Peruvianum, Cav. Peruvian cotton, 

 cultivated in Peru and also to some extent in 

 Africa. 



(2) Oriental cottons, of Asiatic or African origin. 



Gossypium kerbaceum, Linn. Cultivated in India, 

 Asia Minor and southern Europe. 



Gossypium arboreum, Linn. Cultivated in India, 

 China and Japan. 



Gossypium Wightianum, Tod. Cultivated in India, 

 China, Japan, Korea and Transcaucasia. 



In the United States, 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 

 acres, about one-third the acreage of corn, is 

 planted in cotton each year. The annual produc- 

 tion ranges from 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 bales 

 of 500 pounds each, more than half of which is 

 exported. Fifty million to 75,000,000 pounds, 

 chiefly Egyptian cotton, valued at $6,000,000 to 

 $11,000,000, are imported, as it differs in quality 

 from that produced here. 



(b) Soft Fibers.— Flax (see article on Flax). 



Flax fiber is secured from the inner bark of the 

 straw of the flax plant, Ldnum usitatissimum, Linn., 

 belonging to the Linacece or Flax family. This 

 plant, originating in Asia, is now cultivated com- 

 mercially for flber in Russia, Siberia, Austria, Hun- 

 gary, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Sweden, Ire- 

 land, Canada and the United States. In the United 

 States, flax fiber is produced in eastern Michigan, 

 Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. 

 About 2,000 to 3,000 acres are devoted to fiber flax 

 each year in this country, producing an average of 

 about 450 pounds of fiber per acre, or a total of 

 900,000 to 1,350,000 pounds valued at $90,000 to 

 $135,000. The importations for use in the twenty 

 flax spinning mills during the past ten years have 

 averaged annually 7,701 tons, valued at $1,865,473. 

 The imports include water-retted Belgian flax, 

 making the average value higher than that of the 

 dew-retted American flax. 



Hemp (see article^ on Hemp). 



Hemp is a soft flber obtained from the inner bark 

 of the hemp plant. Cannabis sativa, Linn., an annual 

 belonging to the Moraeece or Mulberry family. Origi- 

 nating in central Asia, hemp is now cultivated for 

 fiber production in China, Japan, Russia, Hungary, 

 Italy, France and the United States. In this poun- 

 try hemp is one of the principal crops of the blue- 

 grass region in central Kentucky, 10,000 to 20,000 

 acres being grown there each year. Smaller areas, 



rarely exceeding a total of 1,000 acres, are grown 

 nearly every year in Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska 

 and California. 



The annual production of rough hemp in the 

 United States amounts to 4,000 to 10,000 tons, 

 valued at $480,000 to $1,200,000. The annual 

 average quantity of hemp imported in the past ten 

 years is 4,982 tons, with an annual average value 

 of $716,264. There has been a general upward ten- 

 dency in prices in the past fifteen years. With a 

 more general use of harvesting machinery and 

 fiber-cleaning machinery, now being introduced, 

 the crop ipay be grown more economically and its 

 cultivation will doubtless extend over much wider 

 areas. 



Jute. (Figs. 392, 393.) 



JuJ;e fiber is derived from the inner bark of two 

 species of plants, — jute, Corehorus eapsularis, Linn., 

 and nalta jute, Corehorus olitorius, Linn., both native 

 in northern India. They belong to the Tiliaceoe or 

 Linden family. They are cultivated commercially 

 in India, Farther India, China, Formosa and south- 

 ern Japan. The plants may be grown without diifi- 

 culty in suitable soils in all warm, moist countries, 

 but the large amount of hand labor required in the 

 preparation of the fiber has prevented the develop- 

 ment of the industry outside of Asia. 



The two kinds of jute plants are almost identical 

 in appearance except in the form of the seed-pods. 



Fig. 392. Jute [Corehorus capsularlt) ready for harvest. 



(Fig. 393.) They are herbaceous annuals similar 

 in habit to hemp, but more slender and less inclined 

 to branch when standing alone. When grown 

 broadcast for fiber, the slender whip-like stalks, 

 one-fourth to one-half inch in diameter and five to 

 fifteen feet in height, bear no branches except at 



