FIBER PLANTS 



FIBER PLANTS 



291 



from 6,000 tons to 15,000 tons, and the prices have 

 risen from one and one-half and three cents to 

 four and five and one-half cents per pound. 



Manila maguey. 



This is a hard fiber similar to sisal, but not quite 

 so strong. It is obtained from the leaves of the 

 Manila maguey plant, Agave Gantula, naturalized in 

 the Philippines and now being cultivated there. 



Aloe fiber. 



Bombay and Manila aloe fibers are hard fibers 

 three to five feet long, similar in appearance to 



Fig. 404. Lecheguilla leaves and fiber. 



sisal but weaker and more elastic, used to some 

 extent in the manufacture of medium grades of 

 cordage. They are obtained from the leaves of 

 agaves. 



Maguey fiber. 



Fiber for domestic use is occasionally obtained 

 from the leaves of the large maguey plants. Agave 

 atrovirens, A. collina, A. Potosina, A. Tequilana and 

 A. vivipara, growing in central Mexico. The intro- 

 duction of fiber-cleaning machinery in the last two 

 years gives promise of the production of Mexican 

 maguey fiber in commercial quantities. The fiber is 

 three to eight feet long, nearly white, elastic, but 

 not so strong as sisal. Several species of magueys 

 are cultivated for the production of the Mexican 

 beverages, pulque and mexcal, but none of them is 

 cultivated primarily for fiber. 



Zapupe. 



Two agaves, known as " zapupe verde " and " za- 

 pupe azul," have been planted extensively in recent 

 years for fiber production in the states of Tamau- 

 lipas and Vera Cruz, Mexico. Both have straight, 

 rigid > leaves, three to six feet long, narrower, 

 thinner and more numerous than the leaves of sisal 

 or henequen. Zapupe verde, having green leaves, 

 has long been cultivated for fiber by the Indians of 

 the district of Tantoyuca, Vera Cruz. Zapupe azul, 

 with bluish glaucous leaves, is of uncertain origin. 

 In appearance it very closely resembles Tequila 

 azul. Agave Tequilana, but it is not used in eastern 

 Mexico for the production of " tequila wine." Both 

 species of zapupe produce fiber very similar in 

 quality. It is finer and more flexible than sisal, and 

 of about the same strength when compared by 

 weight. It is extracted on sisal-cleaning machines, 

 but it has not been placed on the market in sufii- 

 cient quantities to determine its real market value. 



Sansevierias. 



The name "bowstring hemp " is applied to most 

 of the fibers obtained from the leaves of a dozen or 

 more species of the genus Sansevieria of the Lily 

 family. Most of these species are native in tropical 

 Africa, especially the dry bush country from Abys- 

 sinia to Mozambique. One of the earliest known of 

 this group of fibers is "moorva" or "murva," 

 obtained from the leaves of Sansevieria Rozburghi- 

 ana in India and Australasia. It is said that this 

 fine, elastic, strong fiber was used by the ancient 

 Hindus for making bow strings. Two species, San- 

 sevieria Guineensis and S. longiflora, are widely 

 distributed in the American tropics. Numerous 

 unsuccessful attempts have been made to exploit 

 these plants. Recent efforts in Venezuela promise 

 better results. At Nairobi and Voi, British East 

 Africa, the fibers of Sansevieria Stuckeyi and S. 

 Ehrenbergii are being extracted in commercial 

 quantities by machines similar to those used for 

 extracting sisal. The first has cylindrical leaves 

 standing up from the ground like green stakes four 

 to eight feet high, and one to two inches in diam- 

 eter. The second has clusters of equitant leaves 

 three to five feet long and one to two inches thick, 

 arrow-shaped or triangular in cross-section. The 

 leaves of both species yield 7 to 10 per cent of dry 

 fiber. The fiber is similar to sisal in appearance, 

 and is suited to the manufacture of twines and 

 cordage. It has not been produced in sufficient 

 quantities to establish a market value. 



Bromelia fibers. 



Hard fibers of remarkable strength and fineness 

 are obtained from the leaves of at least four dif- 

 ferent species of Bromelias growing without culti- 

 vation in the moist lowlands from eastern Mexico 

 through Central America to Colombia, Brazil and 

 Paraguay. These include the "caraguata" of Ar- 

 gentina, and the pita, silk grass (Honduras) and 

 pinuela of Colombia, Central America and Mexico, 

 obtained from B. Karatas, B. sylvestris and B. Pin- 

 guin. These fibers carefully prepared are sometimes 

 sold in the Mexican market at one dollar (Mexican) 

 per pound. The finest Mexican hammocks are made 

 chiefly of this fiber. It is also used for making 

 game-bags, and even fiddle -strings. The plants 

 grow abundantly over thousands of acres, but there 

 are no satisfactory machines for cleaning the fiber, 

 and it is not produced in quantities sufficient for 

 export. 



Pineapple fiber. 



Pineapple fiber is obtained from the leaves of the 

 pineapple plant. Ananas sativus, Schult., cultivated 

 in nearly all warm countries for the fruit. The 

 fiber is produced chiefly in the Philippines from 

 long-leaved varieties cultivated especially for fiber, 

 the fruits of these varieties being of little or no 

 value. The fiber is cleaned by hand, by scraping 

 away the pulp with a bone or a piece of broken 

 crockery. After various processes, usually including 

 beating, washing and sorting, the fibers are tied 

 together end to end. The strands made in this man- 

 ner, not spun or twisted into yam, are woven by 



