292 



FIBER PLANTS 



FIBER PLANTS 



hand in the Philippines, making the beautiful piiia 

 cloth. 



Attempts to use the leaves of pineapples in Flor- 

 ida for fiber production have not given results that 

 would warrant taking up the work on a commercial 

 scale. 



II. Plaiting and Rough-weaving Fibers 

 Coir. 



Coir, or coconut fiber, is obtained from the thick 

 outer husk of the coconut, or fruit of the coco 

 palm, Coeos nucifera, Linn., belonging to the Pal- 

 maeecB or Palm family. Coir is a rather coarse, 

 stiff, elastic fiber four to ten inches long, of a 

 brownish color. In this country it is used for door- 

 mats and floor covering. In Asia, and to some 

 extent in Europe, it is used for cables and towing 

 hawsers, valued for their elasticity and lightness. 

 It is sometimes woven into coarse sail-cloth. 



The coconut palm grows in abundance along the 

 sandy shores of nearly all tropical countries, and 

 occasionally in inland localities, but the production 

 of the coir of commerce is confined almost exclu- 

 sively to the Laccadive islands and adjacent shores 

 of southern India and Ceylon, and in southern 

 China. Coir is obtained from green coconuts. The 

 fiber from mature coconuts, such as are sold in the 

 markets, is coarse and brittle and of little value 

 except for jadoo fiber, used in place of leaf-mold 

 for growing conservatory plants. Machinery is 

 now used for shredding the fiber and twisting it 

 into a coarse yam, the form in which it is exported. 



Raffia. 



Rafida is a flat, ribbon-like fiber, consisting of 

 strips of the epidermis peeled from the leaves of 

 the raffia palm, Eaphia Buffia, Mart., growing in 

 Madagascar, and the jupati palm, Raphia tcedigera, 

 Mart., of eastern Brazil. These palms belong to 

 the Palm family. They are plentiful in the wild 

 state, and are not systematically cultivated. 



In this country raffia was formerly used almost 

 exclusively as a tie material in nurseries and gar- 

 dens, but now it is largely used in basketry, milli- 

 nery and various kinds of fancy work. Its use for 

 these purposes has increased the demand and re- 

 sulted in doubling the price within the last six 

 years. In Madagascar, raffia is made into woven 

 goods. 



Matting fibers. 



Matting fibers are plaiting or rough -weaving 

 materials, not textile fibers. Entire stalks or leaves 

 are used with a warp of cotton or hemp yarn, or in 

 many instances, especially in the Pacific islands, 

 the same or similar materials are used in both 

 directions, that is, for warp as well as woof. 



Japanese matting is made from the mat rush, 

 '■ round grass " or " bingo-i," Junms effusus, Linn., 

 or the "three-cornered grass," "shichito-i," Cyperus 

 tegetiformis, Roxb. The mat rush is distributed 

 throughout the greater part of the north temperate 

 zone. It is plentiful in many parts of the United 

 States, but is not used here except as a tie material 



by Chinese gatdeners. In Japan and the region 

 about Shanghai, China, it is cultivated with great 

 care in the rice-fields. 



It is propagated by roots set out first in nursery 

 beds, then transplanted to the fields late in the fall 

 after the rice crop has been removed. The crop is 

 hoed, well fertilized and watered, somewhat like 

 rice. It is cut in July. The roots are then dug to 

 make room for transplanting rice, and to be used 

 for future planting. The shoots are dipped in a 

 pond of water, holding white clay in suspension, 

 to give them a coating which tends to preserve 

 their color and toughness. When dry they are 

 stored away in bundles until used. 



In the Ningpo and Canton districts of China, 

 and in Formosa, the Chinese mat rush "Kiam- 

 tsau," Cyperus tegetiformis, is cultivated largely 

 in the rice-fields to supply material for matting. 

 In the region about Calcutta and for the fine 

 Tinnevelly mats of south India Cyperus tegetum, 

 Roxb., is used. Its leaves are harder than those of 

 C. tegetiformis. 



Nearly all of the "round grass," Juncus, used for 

 matting is from cultivated plants, and the stalks, 

 mostly sterile shoots, are used whole, while the 

 sedges, "three-cornered grass" of the genus 

 Cyperus, are largely from wild plants, and the stalks 

 are split into two or three sections before drying. 

 The matting made in China and Japan is woven on 

 hand-looms, and affords em-ployment to thousands 

 of men, women and children. The United States 

 imports floor matting to the value of about 

 $4,000,000 every year, and its use is steadily 

 increasing. 



A power-loom has been devised for weaving floor 

 matting, and efforts are being made, with only 

 partial success thus far, for securing in this coun- 

 try a satisfactory supply of rushes. 



Hat fibers. 



Hats are made from round or flat plaited or 

 woven fibrous material, chiefly straw or shredded 

 leaves of palms or palm-like plants. Panama hats 

 are made from finely.divided strips of the palm-like 

 leaves of the "jipi-japa" plant, Carludoviea pal- 

 mata. This plant belongs to the Cyelanthacece, not 

 to the Palm family. It is a native in Central 

 America and tropical South America. The fan-like 

 leaves, two to six feet in diameter, borne on stalks 

 six to fourteen feet high, are cut while young, slit 

 into shreds and immersed in boiling water, then 

 dried and bleached in the sun. In drying, the 

 slender strips roll up into cylinders, like fine 

 straws. These are woven by hand into bowl-shaped 

 bags, and afterward pressed into the form of 

 hats. The weaving is done chiefly in the morning 

 and evening, as the dry air of mid-day makes 

 the straw too brittle to work well. The flnest 

 panama hats are made in Ecuador and Colombia. 

 Cheaper grades are made from other species of 

 carludoviea. . 



Porto Rican hats are made from the leaves of 

 the "yaray" or hat palm, Inodes casearia, a rather 

 small palm scattered across the southern part of 

 Porto Rico and most abundant near the shore a 



