58 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



■were injured by chafing one on another, and also from heing crushed under foot in 

 weeding and cutting the fruit. This condition seems to he almost entirely ohviated 

 by spacing the plants at least 2 feet, as has heen done on the mainland. Another 

 defect was found in the withered condition of several iuches of the tip or end, not 

 noticeahle in the younger leaves. This, however, may have heen due to the excessi ve 

 drought of the season. It does not occasion much loss of fiher, hut adds to the cost 

 of extraction, the decayed parts having to he cut off. The approximate acreage in 

 pineapples in 1892 on keys Metacomha, Largo, and Elliott's was 930, and the num- 

 ber of apples shipped (1892) about 1,916,400, which did not include many thousands 

 marketed after the close of the season. 



The average yield of good leaves from the Red Spanish was about 10 out of the 

 average 25 of each plant, and the weight 1 pound, making the total for fruited plants, 

 in round numbers, 958 tons. Adding the leaves to be secured after the close of the 

 season and from abandoned fields, the quantity might be raised to 1,000 or 1,100 

 tons. This refers, of course, to extreme southern Florida, no account having been 

 taken of the large acreage on Indian River and elsewhere. 



As to the value of the fiber, a London quotation for a lot of well cleaned from an 

 Asiatic source was $150 per ton. There is no doubt that if the fiber could be pro- 

 duced in quantity at an economical cost, manufacturers would soon find a use for it 

 and would know what price they could afford to pay for it. The market price 

 would then be fixed by the demand and supply. The machine question enters 

 largely into the problem, however, and as the leaves are small a quantity would 

 need to be cleaned at one feeding of the machine to make it pay. Estimating 10 

 leaves to the pound, there would be over 22,000 leaves to the ton, which, as we 

 have seen, would produce from 50 to 60 pounds of fiber. 



The machine used in the Department experiments produced a fine product, but in 

 too small quantity to be employed commercially. There is no doubt that a modi lied 

 sisal hemp machine (automatic) would do the work, although a machine has recently 

 been constructed for all small-leaved plants that may be adapted to use in extract- 

 ing this fiber. See Appendix A. 



The Chinese extract the fiber by hand. "The first step is the removal of the 

 fleshy sides of the leaf. A man sitting astride a narrow stool extends on it in front 

 of him a single leaf, one end of which is held beneath him. He then, with a kind of 

 two-handled bamboo plane, removes the succulent matter. Another man receives 

 the leaves as they are planed, and with his thumb nail loosens the fibers about the 

 middle of the leaf, gathers them in his hand, and by one effort detaches them from 

 the outer skin. The fihers are next steeped in water, washed, and laid out to dry 

 and bleach on rude frames of split bamboo. The processes of steeping, washing, and 

 exposing to the sun are repeated until the fibers are considered properly bleached. 

 In the Philippines the blunt end of a potsherd is used and the fiber is carefully 

 combed and sorted into four classes." (Spon.) 



The Chinese fiber is manufactured into a strong, coarse fabric resembling the 

 coarser kinds of grass cloth. In Formosa its chief use is for the inner garments of 

 the agricultural class. The fabric is called Huang-li-Pu. Pina is considered to be 

 more delicate in texture than any other known to the vegetable kingdom. It i- 

 woven from the untwisted fibers of the pineapple leaf after reducing them to extreme 

 fineness and after the ends have been glued together to form a continuous thread. 

 There is another delicate fabric, used for ladies' dresses, which is said to he manu- 

 factured from pineapple fiher woven with silk, the latter forming lustrous stripes in 

 soft colors or shades. 



The pineapple cloth of the Philippines is produced by the common pineapple also. 

 i. e., Ananas sativa. The plants have become almost wild in Singapore and the Phil- 

 ippines, with leaves 5 to 6 feet long. The fruit is small, but the leaves appear to 

 yield better fiber than the cultivated plants. I Dr. Morris. ) 



Further accounts of the fiber will be found in the Ann. Rept. U. S. Dept. Ag., 18?9, 

 p. r.12; Fib. Inv. Rept. No. 5, p. 44; Kew Bull., 1887, p. 8; Jan., 1889, p. 27; Oct., Nov., 



