18 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



stalk by the winter storms, attract attention; and often the observer, 

 regarding his discovery as new and considering- it the source of a valu- 

 able, undeveloped industry, writes to learn the name and history of the 

 species, how far the plant is susceptible of cultivation, and what price 

 the fiber will bring in the market. In considering such a plant the first 

 question is not. can we grow the species, but what will be its uses in man- 

 ufacture, or. in other words, what commercial fiber will it either replace 

 or become a substitute for. In most instances the inquiry need not be 

 carried further, for the present commercial fibers represent in a sense 

 those that have stood the test of experience, and until these are crowded 

 out by new conditions, or through what might be termed evolution in 

 the economic arts, they will have no chance. The only opportunity 

 that may be afforded these secondary forms is in the creation of special 

 uses to which they may be peculiarly adapted, for which the standard 

 forms known to tire market price current are not so well fitted. 



Should a fiber be considered "promising,*' it would need to be sub- 

 jected to chemical and microscopic study to determine the length of the 

 ultimate fiber cell, the proportion of cellulose, and any other elements 

 which would give it its rating among textiles. By suclr technical study 

 we are enabled to obtain direct knowledge of the species and in a 

 measure to avoid long and costly economic experimentation. 



Experiments for the development or extension of vegetable fiber 

 industries under governmental auspices or direction have been insti- 

 tuted at different times in many countries, and such experiments date 

 back nearly one hundred years. In some instances these have been 

 confined to testing the strengths of native fibrous substances for com- 

 parison with similar tests of commercial fibers, as the almost exhaust- 

 ive experiments of Eoxburgh in India early in tire present century. 

 Another direction for Government experimentation has been the testing 

 of machines to supersede costly hand labor in the preparation of the raw 

 material for market, or in the development of chemical processes for 

 the further preparation of the fibers for manufacture, or in microscopic 

 and chemical investigation. The broadest field of experiment, however, 

 has been the cultivation of the plants, either to introduce new indus- 

 tries as sources of national wealth or to economically develop those 

 which require to be fostered. The introduction of ramie culture is an 

 example of the first instance, the fostering of the almost extinct flax 

 industry of our grandfathers' days an illustration of the second. 



The United States Government has conducted experiments or insti- 

 tuted inquiries in the fiber interest at various times in the last fifty 

 years, but it is only since 1890 that an office of practical experiment 

 and inquiry lias been established by the Department of Agriculture, 

 that has been continued through a term of years. This is known as 

 the Office <>f Fiber Investigations. 



The work <>!' this branch of the Department of Agriculture lias been 

 mainly directed toward the development or introduction of those libers 



