190 
s principle is so sound that all that is necessary is to increase the 
mber to meet any required needs. 
may observe, however, it does not necessarily follow that the 
e: Toda ” machine will be suitable where the conditions of the plant are 
not similar to ours. Iam not informed of the nature of the plant at 
Fiji, but it may be instructive to know that the leaves of the Bahama 
plant. which hold the fibre are from four to six feet long, that they are 
free from gum, and the threads separate without combing. Little 
washing is needed, and the whole process of extracting, washing, and 
drying is the work of one day 
I have, ee 
The Most Honourable (Signed) A. SHEA, 
The Marquess of Ripon, K.G., Governor. 
&e., &e., &c. 
An account, m an illustration, of the * Todd" fibre extracting 
machine, is given by Mr. Charles Richards Dodge in Report No. 5 
* Fibre Investigations in the United States," issued by thé Department 
of Agriculture in 1893, pp. 25-26. Mr. Dodge states :— 
“ The only new machine for cleaning Sisal hemp leaves ; that has na 
brought to my attention, since the publication of my previous report, 
the device patented in 1892 by J. L. Acosta, and manufactured b 
Joseph C. Todd, Paterson, N.J. 
** The claims of the inventor are set forth as follows :— 
** [n Fig. 3 is shown clearly the arrangement of the machine for 
cleaning henequen leaves without the use of crushing cylinders, The 
operator seats himself before the table and lays the leaves on the feeding 
chains. Care should be taken to lay the thick ends of the leaves to the 
right side, with something more than half of the length of the leaf 
hanging dowa. The chains will then carry the leaves ‘to the holding 
belts , by which they will be presented to the first scraping wheel. 
remainder is cleaned by the second wheel, leaving no udaa or 
partially cleaned oie in the middle, as is usual in other machines. 
The leaves of the Pita plant need to be crushed by finely corrugated 
cylinders in cde to separate the fine fibres of the black of a leaf. Th ey. 
should be crushed and scraped while still green and fresh, so es the 
cleaning may be assisted by the juices of the leaves. Knives or 
scrapers and brushes in alternation around the wheels are dispensati 
It is also desirable to have a pump to furnish water to two small tanks 
fixed above the upper belts of both wheels. The water flows from these 
tanks to spread the leaves on the surface of the shoes and to clean and 
wash the fibres. Otherwise the fibres may be cleaned and washed after 
being scraped, T it is desirable to avoid the expense of the pump and 
a single man to put the leaves on the feeding chain, g a 
bei Bd of cleaning thor oughly 50 ,000 to 60, 000 leaves i in a day.’ 
Mr. Dodge adds : 
el have not seen n inh machine running on Sisal hemp leaves, but 
ssed its work on the leaves of bear-grass ( Yucca filamentosa) 
Marcii by the , Department, the cleaning being accomplished in 4 
thorough manner,” 
