172 



USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



being regarded as Aarieties. "It abounds in the temperate and subtropical Hima- 

 layas, ascending to an altitude of 5,000 feet. It is also met with in Assam, Sylliet, 

 and Burma, and extends from Marwar and central India to Travancore and Ceylon. 

 The variety palm at a is a native of the Nilghiri hills and Ceylon, while zeylanica is 

 confined to the latter locality and parts of the Deccan." (Watt.) 



Bast Fiber. — The above authority states that the fibers from the three forms are 

 perfectly distinct in many of their characters, and should therefore be considered 

 separately. From the account given in the work cited above the following extracts 

 are reproduced: 



G. heterophylla : Stems often employed for making twine and ropes by the dry 

 process, but these are not prized and perish quickly from the wet. Yields a fine, 



strong fiber, used for cordage and 





twine, but cannot stand much moisture. 

 G. palmata : The true Nilghiri nettle; 

 it yields a finer and more valuable fiber 

 than the preceding. Royle writes that 

 the liber is very long, soft, and silky, 

 and has been much admired by many 

 of the best judges of fibers. At Dun- 

 dee it was thought a very good fiber, 

 but rather dry. Mr. Dickson, who lias 

 passed it through his machine and solu- 

 tion, has rendered it a beautiful, soft, 

 silky kind of flax and calls it a wonder- 

 ful fiber, of which the tow would be 

 useful for mixing with wool as has been 

 done with China grass, and the fiber 

 used for the finest purposes. In Spon's 

 Encyclopedia the Girardinias are 

 spoken of collectively under the name 

 of G. lieterophylla, but it seems that G. 

 palmata alone is meant. The following 

 extract may be found useful : "It suc- 

 ceeds well by cultivation. The bark 

 abounds in fine, white, glossy, strong 

 fibers which have a rougher surface 

 than those of Boehmeria nivea, and are 

 therefore more easily combined with 

 wool in mixed fabrics." Owing to the 

 high percentage of cellulose and the 

 small loss from hydrolysis, the fiber is 

 chemically one of the best produced in 

 India. 



G. zeylanica : Little is known regard- 

 ing the fiber of this variety, although it is used in the Konkan and other parts of 

 western and southwestern India. It would appear, however, that it is very similar 

 to that produced by the true Nilghiri nettle. 



Cultivation. — Like the China grass plant, it can be cut as a perennial and con- 

 tinue to throw out fresh shoots and roots for three or four years. The seeds are sown 

 in rows 15 inches apart in alluvial soils, and the stalks are cut in July and January. 

 It is stated that from the July crop an average of 450 to 500 pounds of fiber may be 

 expected, 120 pounds of this being of superior quality. The January crop will yield 

 600 to 700 pounds of fiber; but the fiber of this crop is uniform, but of coarse quality, 

 owing to the shoots being matured by the setting in of the dry season in December. 



Ginger grass (see Andropogon scha nanthus). 



1 



Fig. 57. — The TJbimrAna, Qeonoma mulUflora. 



