104 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



Callicarpa cana. Arusha. 



An India shrub (3 to 4 feet) belonging to the Ferbenaeece, common along the road- 

 skies. Fgrhes Royle states that fiber has been extracted from the plant, 'but it 

 does not appear of much value in a country where so many others abound.'' Tested 

 with Russian hemp of a given size, the aroosha broke at 127 pounds, while the hemp 

 stood a strain of 400 pounds. "It possesses all the free and kindly nature of flax, 

 and even swells like flax'' {Captain Thompson.) 



Calmelia (It.). See Daphne rnezereum. 



Caloee (Siam). See Boehmeria. 



Calotropis gigantea. Giaxt Asclepias. Madar; MtjdXb. 



Exogen. Asclepiadacece. Perennial shrub. 



Abounds in India, Malay Islands, and south China. "It is not very common in 

 Burma, and as represented by the doubtfully distinct species, C. procera, it is dis- 

 tributed to Persia and tropical Africa"' ( Watt). 



Bast Fiber. — The species yields a fine fiber in the bast, while the seeds are envel- 

 oped in a silk cotton known as maddr floss. In the Javanese exhibit at the Chicago 

 World's Fair two fibrous productions were shown, one a bast fiber of good color and 

 great strength, the other a substance resembling cotton, but of a creamy color. The 

 bast fiber was derived from the Giant Asclepias (C. gigantea). It is of considerable 

 value in Indian pharmacy, growing wild upon arid wastes, and producing a fiber of 

 superior quality. It resembles flax somewhat in appearance, and is quite strong. 

 It is not cultivated in India, though its fiber is regarded in Madras, where the plant 

 grows wild, as the best and strongest material for bowstrings and tiger traps. The 

 plant is known under a variety of names, as Ashur in Arabic, Muddr and Al-Muddar 

 in Hindoo ; in Madras it goes by the name of Tercum. As it thrives upon soils where 

 nothing else will grow, needing neither culture nor water, it has been considered an 

 advisable plant for bringing waste land under tillage and for reclaiming drifting 

 sands. 



An acre of ground stocked with plants 4 feet apart each way will yield 10 tons of 

 green stems and 582 pounds of fiber per acre, as prepared by native methods, which 

 waste 25 per cent. The fiber is said to possess many of the qualities of flax (Linum 

 usitatiss'nnum ), though it is somewhat finer. Its fineness, tenacity, luster, and softness 

 fit it for many industrial purposes. It is said to be better adapted for textiles than 

 for cordage, and that it may readily be mixed with silk; yet it shows a high degree 

 of resistance to moisture. "Samples exposed for two hours to steam at two atmos- 

 pheres, boiled in water for three hours, and again steamed for four hours, lost only 

 5.47 per cent by weight, as compared with flax, 3.50 ; manila hemp, 6.07 ; hemp, 6.18- 

 8.44; coir, 8.13" (Spon). 



The mode of separating the fiber as practiced by the natives is exceedingly tedious 

 and would prevent the material from becoming an article of commerce unless some 

 more speedy and less trifling way for preparing it could be discovered. In short, 

 no water is used, and everything is done by hand manipulation, assisted by the 

 teeth. Flax machinery might facilitate the matter if it was desired to cultivate 

 extensively for liber. As to its cultivation, " it is difficult to conceive anything less 

 productive than dry sand, yet the muddr thrives in it, requiring no culture and no 

 water." Dr. Wight tested samples of the fiber from Madras, where it is much 

 employed for tish lines, and found that it bore a strain of 552 pounds when sunn 

 hemp bore 404 pounds. Royle s experiments gave 160 for Russian hemp and 190 

 pounds each for Jubbulpore hemp (Crotalaria) and the muddr or Calotropis gigantea. 



In the autumn of 1884, while testing different machines in their power of extracting 

 the libers of various liher-yielding plants, I devoted attention to the dkunda or maddr 

 amongst other plants. I had already studied this shrub previously, to a certain 

 extent, and had formed a hopeful idea of it. But the trials just alluded to have 

 induced me to alter considerably my previous opinion. 1 can now confidently state 



