DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 71 



substance could not be used alone, as the cells are so smooth that they have no felt- 

 ing property, and therefore will not hold together and can not be spun. They 

 possess little strength, aud can only be considered as silky hairs, and not as fiber. 



In my notes made at Kew I find reference to samples of muslin made from a species 

 of Asclepias from Syria. There was also a very beautiful and delicate fabric in colors. 

 A. syri'aca is referred to by Royle, who states that it is a native of Syria and culti- 

 vated as far north as Upper Silesia. "The plants thrive luxuriantly in light soil, 

 but flourish on any poor land. The fibers of the stem, prepared in the same man- 

 ner as those of hemp, furnish a very long fine thread of glossy whiteness." The Syrian 

 species, doubtless introduced from the New World, is the common milkweed of the 

 United States. John Robinson, Museum, Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, 

 informs me that as early as 1862 Miss Margaret Gerrish, of that city, spun and 

 wrought from the fiber of A. syrlaca purses, workbags, socks, and skeins of thread, 

 which were dyed in many colors. 



*S2)ecimens — Mus. U. S. Dept. Ag. 



Asclepias curassavica. Wild Ipecacuanha. 



This species is found in the southern United States, Mexico, West Indies, and por- 

 tions of South America, as Venezuela. Common in Yucatan, cucliilixiu being the 

 Maya name. The plant is also found in India, having been introduced from South 

 America, though it is not mentioned in any list of Indian fiber plants. 



Surface Fiber. — While the stalks produce a bast, the only mention of the plant 

 as a textile is in regard to its yielding " silk cotton." Dr. Havard states that the 

 seed hairs of this species are claimed to be stronger than those of other species that 

 have been considered. The Kew Mus. has a collar made from the fiber. The eco- 

 nomic value of the plant in the West Indies is its employment in pharmacy. 



Asclepias fruticosa. 



The down of this species is used in Italy to a small extent as wadding. The plants 

 only thrive in favorable situations. The plant is known as Albero delta seta, or 

 silk tree. 



Asclepias incarnata. The Swamp Milkweed. 



This species, according to Gray, abounds from Maine to Minnesota and southward 

 to Louisiana, being found as far south as the Carolinas on the Atlantic coast. A 

 variety, pulchra, having hairy stems, has almost as wide a northerly distribution, 

 and is also found in North Carolina. 



Bast Fiber. — Light gray to white in color, according to preparation, specimens 

 from the old stalks in the field resembling dew-retted flax in appearance. The fiber is 

 finer than hemp as usually prepared, soft and glossy, possessing greater strength than 

 the majority of bast fibers of wild growth in the United States. Useful for all pur- 

 poses to which hemp maybe applied. " Binder twine from this species stood a 

 breaking test of 95 to 125 pounds" (JR. J. Sail). 



Economic considerations. — In 1890 this plant attracted attention in Minnesota 

 as worthy of cultivation, and a quantity of the fiber from wild plants was secured 

 and manufactured into binding twine for examination and experiment. While no 

 better than common hemp, it might pay to cultivate the plaut for its fiber, but as 

 hemp culture is an established thing, and hemp is also found growing wild (escaped 

 from cultivation) in many localities where A. incarnata abounds, there would be no 

 special advantage in its cultivation. 



"It can be produced on overflowed land where no other cultivated plants will 

 grow and yield double the fiber that flax will produce. Such lands may be described 

 as bottom lands subject to overflow, of which Minnesota has thousands of acres. The 

 use of such tracts would avoid drawing upon our grain lands. The plant will pro- 

 duce as much fiber as a crop of hemp and with less labor. It grows as far north as the 

 forty-sixth parallel, and I incline to the opinion that cultivation will carry it up to 



