122 



USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



extracted by beating. Fresb water is said to weaken tbe liber, and, in fact, too long 

 soaking will produce this result iu any event. The coir from tbe islands of Kadamat, 

 Kelton, and Cbetlat, in the Laccadives, is said to be of the best description, and the 

 manufacture into cordage is done entirely by women. After it is taken from the pit 

 and sufficiently beaten, the extraneous matter is separated from the fibrous portion 

 by rubbing between the hands. After it is thoroughly cleaned, it is arranged into a 

 loose roving preparatory to being twisted, which is done in a very ingenious manuer 

 between the palms of the hands, so that it produces a yarn of two strands at once. 

 According to the old, native system of treatment, the nuts sometimes remained in the 

 pits eighteen months. The best commercial coir of to-day is obtained by better meth- 

 ods, and the soaking is accomplished in tanks of stone, brick, iron, or wood, the 

 water being warmed by steam, which shortens the duration of the treatment very 

 materially. "Where machinery is used (in the after processes), the husks, when 

 sufficiently soaked, are passed through a crushing mill, which flattens and crushes 

 them ready for the extractor, or breakiug-down machine. In the latter the niters 

 are completely disintegrated, and are then passed through a 'willowing ' machine, to 

 free them from dust and refuse. It is calculated that when treated in England 



10,000 husks will produce 45 to 50 cwt. of 

 spinning fiber and 9 to 13 cwt. of brush liber. 

 In the process of separating the liber, the fol- 

 lowing commercial qualities are produced: 

 The mat, or long fibers used for spinning pur- 

 poses; the shorter, or more stubborn libers 

 (bristles), for brooms or brushes; the tow or 

 curled fiber for stuffing cushions, and the dust 

 or refuse for gardening purposes. When dyed 

 black, the tow has been used as a substitute 

 for horsehair. A singular use was proposed 

 a short time ago for cocoanut dust or refuse. 

 Taken before it is quite dry. and subjected to 

 great pressure, it is capable of forming plates 

 of varying thickness, like millboard, only 

 much more brittle. These boards, if used as 

 backing for steel plates of ironclads, swell up 

 on being puuetured below the water line and 

 soon close the orifice. If really effective, such 

 plates could be produced at a trifling cost, 

 for thousands of tons of cocoanut refuse float 

 away annually down the rivers in India and 

 See also Corn-pith Cellulose for this purpose, under Zea 



Fig. 42. — Section of a cocoanut. a, the 

 husk containing the fiber ; b, the fruit, 

 or edible portion. 



(Dr. Aforris.) 



elsewhere 

 mays. 



Three large coast cocoanuts will yield 1 pound of coir, measuring about 130 feet, 

 whereas 10 small inland nuts are required for 1 pound, but it will give over 200 feet. 

 Two pounds of such yarn, averaging from 70 to 75 fathoms, are made up into sooties, 

 of which there are 14 in a bundle, averaging about a niaund (28 pounds). A Manga- 

 lore candy (560 pounds) will thus be the produce of 5,600 nuts, and should contain 

 20,000 fathoms a20,000 feet) of yarn. 



Coir fiber is used by the Spaniards of the South Seas instead of oakum for calking 

 their vessels, and it is claimed that it will never rot. Coarse cloth is sometimes 

 made from the fiber which is used for sails. The principal use of coir, however, in 

 the commercial world is for cordage and matting. " The character of coir has long 

 been established in the East, and is now in Europe, as one of the best materials for 

 cables, on account of its lightness as well as elasticity." Ships furnished with coir 

 cables have been known to ride out a storm in security while the stronger made, hut 

 less elastic, ropes of the other vessels snapped like pack thread. Coir cables were 

 used extensivelv in the Indian seas until chain cables were introduced. It is rougher 



