220 
value would be £3. This would be the approximate value of 
fibre “ produced on a 5 per cent. basis from a ton of green stalks 
with leaves.’ 
The most complete and recent account of the Faure machine is 
given in the report of a lecture delivered before the Indian 
Section of the Society of Arts by Mr. Thomas Barraclough on the 
25th —€— 1897. This is published in the Jowrnal Soc. Arts. 
(vol. A pril 2, 1897, pp. 421-440) ; seealso British Trade 
Journal (May 1, 1898). 
“The machine, which yim 11 cwt., is very strong and not 
liable to get out of order. It consists mainly of the framework 
and driving-gear, the decobticating drum carrying beaters and the 
feed-bed. This latter is the important feature of the machine, by 
reason of its special contour which varies at different parts to suit 
the various MIS of work which the machine has to perform. 
The first part of the bed is curved outwards, the second is straight, 
and the third is curved inwards. The stems are fed into t e 
e anam over € mb part of the bed, where the woody portion 
becomes immediately broken and partly removed ; tri 
wane on to the Dt part, and as the speed of the beaters is 
considerably ae than that at which the stems are fed into the 
ing effec 
than the thickness of the stri This scraping action effects a 
double purpose ; it attacks the outer skin and also all matters 
extraneous to the fibre. Thestrips then pass idR vertically into 
th preme dnd the Panier matters, viz., most of the woody 
parts, the skin, and gummy substances, are thrown out to a 
distance bt ps cen ntrifugal force of the beater drum. When the 
stems have entered to within a short distance of their end, the 
return movement is effected and they are withdrawn. During the 
withdrawal the following action takes place: At the inward curve 
or prs part of the bed, the filaments are slightly and viget 
y the beater blades, which throw out the coarser of the 
débris still adhering. The operation is performed with great 
delicacy ; the fibres assume the position of the chord of the curve, 
and are constantly agitated by the beaters. When the fibres 
arrive at the second part of the bed, as the space between it and 
the ters is infinitely reduced, the entire removal of matters 
still adhering to the fibres is effected, and these latter leave 
the machine white, parallel, and free from woody matter, from 
skin, and from the major portion of the juice. The concave bed 
or breast is mounted in such a way that its position to 
the action of the beaters is easily regulated. The brackets 
w 
feminie legs, the object being to obtain a rubbing action between 
he beaters and the fibre, having for its special object the loosening 
d removal of the skin. The elastic: bed gives way or vibrates 
an enormous number of times per minute, and this produces the 
desired rubbing or *knuckle-joint' action between the beaters 
and the fibres on the bed. The shape of the feed-bed causes it to 
. Choking 
abnormal strains are avoided, and the machine can be kept a 
work from morning till night without oppia for E 
