DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 57 



Anadendrum sp. 



Endogen. Aracece. 



Native name. — Andaman Islands, Yolba. 

 Fiber. — From the bark ; used for bowstrings and netted reticules carried by the 

 women. 



Ananas sativa. Pineapple. 



Endogen. Bromeliacea . Aloe-like leaf cluster. 



Native names. — Ananas (Fr.); Piiia (Eastern Archipelago); Anannas (Beng.) ; 

 Aainunnas (Arab, and Pers.) ; Po-lo-Ma (China). 



Native of tropical America, probably Brazil, and distributed over southern Europe, 

 and tropical Asia and Africa. In the United States chiefly cultivated for its fruit 

 in subtropical Florida. Dr. Morris informs me that the Croivia of British Guiana, a 

 plant of which is growing at Kew, has been determined to be a wild form of the com- 

 mon pineapple. The term silk grass, sometimes applied to its fiber, is meaningless' 

 and a misnomer. See Croivia in the alphabetical arrangement. Fig. 2, PL III, shows 

 the pineapple plant in cultivation. 



Structural Fiber. — "Both the wild and cultivated pineapple yield fibers which, 

 when spun, surpass in strength, fineness, and luster those obtained from flax; can be 

 employed as a substitute for silk, and as a material for mixing with wool or cotton." 

 (Watt.) Useful for cordage, textile fabrics, sewing silk or twist, laces, etc. In 

 China fabrics for clothing of agriculturists. In request in India as material for string- 

 ing necklaces. Produces the celebrated pina cloth of the Philippine Islands. "It is 

 remarkably durable, and unaffected by immersion in water; and is white, soft, silky, 

 flexible, and long in staple." (Spon.) Samples cleaned, without washing, in the 

 Government experiments in Florida, 1892, when twisted to the size of binding twine, 

 showed a breakage strain of 150 pounds. Dr. Taylor subdivided a specimen of this 

 fiber to one ten-thousandth of an inch. 



Economic considerations. — Pineapple culture, for its fruit, in Florida is a com- 

 paratively recent industry, the first plantings having been made on the keys about 

 1886, though the first plantation of commercial importance was not established until 

 fifteen years later, on the Indian River. The value of the fiber has long been known, 

 however, and in 1891 the fiber expert of the United States Department of Agriculture 

 began a series of investigations into the practicability of utilizing the Florida leaves 

 for fiber after the fruit has been gathered, as their utilization would give to the 

 United States a new industry. In the experiments of 1892 it was shown that the 

 yield of fiber from freshly cut pineapple leaves ranges from 45 to 60 pounds per ton 

 of 2,240 pounds of leaves. An important point to be noted is the fact that selected 

 leaves, as to size, do not give as high a yield of fiber as average leaves. Lot No. 1 

 was 820 pounds of average leaves and 202 pounds of selected. While the total 1,022 

 pounds of leaves gave 25 pounds of fiber, the 820 pounds gave 21 pounds of fiber 

 against a yield of 4 pounds from 202 pounds of leaves. Reduced to equivalents, the 

 average leaves yielded at the rate of 57| pounds to the ton, while the selected leaves 

 yielded less than 44^ pounds of fiber to the ton. 



Lot No. 5 was from Fuzzard's plantation, near the Perrine grant, 1,000 pounds of 

 leaves, tips cut off. The leaves averaged 10 to the pound. Dry fiber from this 

 1,000 pounds weighed 18 pounds, 2 ounces, or a little over 40 pounds to the ton of 

 leaves. It should also be noted that there was an excessive waste of fiber in the 

 process of cleaning. 



Special Agent Monroe, who attended to the details of the experimental work of 

 1892 in Florida, stated that the practice has been to allow the leaves to decay under 

 the plant and afford possible nourishment to the young suckers. The general opin- 

 ion on this point is in favor of cutting the leaves, but experiments covering several 

 seasons will be necessary to properly decide this point. Owing to the practice on 

 the keys of planting very close, it was found that a large proportion of the leaves 



