186 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



Bast Fiber. — Like all the species of Malvacece, the stalks of the cotton plant con- 

 tain in their hark a fine jute-like iiher. This has at different times attracted the 

 attention of industrialists, and various attempts have heen made to "bring it into use. 

 There is no doubt that if the plants were grown thickly, like hemp, so as to shoot up 

 slender and branchless, that a good fiber could be prepared from them. Tin; experi- 

 ments, however, have been conducted with_ the old bushy stalks remaining in the 

 field after the lint cotton harvest 



i In the collection of fibers sent to the Paris Exposition of 1889 was a fine example 

 of the fiber of the cotton stalk, from a plant grown by Gov. J. B. Gordon, of Georgia, 

 prepared by the American Consolidated Fiber Company, from a green stalk, sixty 

 days from date of planting. In the letter transmitting the specimen it was stated 

 that "the fiber is not only good for thread, but for a thousand other purposes; it is 

 a splendid fiber for paper also, as it will not tear as easily as that made from wood 

 pulp or rags." There is no doubt that this fiber would make an admirable twine, 

 though its use in "thread" is somewhat overstated. It possesses fair strength, 

 specimens I have examined by hand tests appearing somewhat stronger than jute. 

 The fiber of old stalks that have stood in the field is of varying shades of russet 

 in color, while that from fresh stalks is a yellow white. 



The antagonism of the farmers of the South to the jute trust, in 1890, called 

 renewed attention to unutilized Southern fibers for the manufacture of bagging with 

 which to bale the cotton crop, the price of bagging having been advanced from 7 

 to 12 cents per yard. Various fibers were suggested as substitutes for the India 

 product, and among them the bast of cotton stalks, which, it was claimed, could be 

 supplied "from the 18,000,000 acres of cotton fields " in cultivation in the South. 

 Among those who experimented with this fiber in manufacture was William E Jack- 

 son, of Augusta, Ga., who gave considerable attention to the enterprise, a company 

 having been organized to carry on the work. According to the statement made the 

 fiber was separated "on a machine which was patented and perfected for South 

 American fiber experiments," the name of the inventor not having been given. The 

 principle consisted in "running the bast between a corrugated concave bed, the 

 charge between being washed by a flowing stream of water to wash away the resi- 

 due of gum and bark." 



Nothing was said as to the }>roposed method of harvesting the stalks, further than 

 that fiber shown was taken from stalks that had been gathered late in February, 

 after exposure to the weather for several months. The fiber produced from these 

 stalks was sent to Mr. J. C. Todd, of Paterson, N. J., for manufacture, a few yards 

 having been prepared experimentally. During a visit to the factory in Paterson a 

 few months later, I was able to secure from the loom whence it was made a small 

 specimen of the bagging, which is preserved in the collection of the Department. 

 The fiber, which showed fair strength, was reddish in color, or a bright russet, 

 though the sample exhibited at Paris approached nearer to straw color. 



Like many other similar enterprises, the anticipated results were not realized, 

 and it is doubtful if the harvesting of such rough and uneven material could be 

 accomplished at economical cost, even if such stalks or branches could be success- 

 fully decorticated. A machine constructed to operate upon straight, clean stalks, 

 half an inch or more in diameter, grown rapidly and close together in the field, such 

 as hemp stalks, could hardly be expected to work smoothly upon the rough, irregularly 

 shaped branches and often crooked material that would be yielded by cotton plants 

 grown primarily for lint cotton. 



The only further reference to the economic use of the bast of the cotton stalk for 

 fiber is in the Die. Ec. Prod. Ind., Vol. IV. "The stem yields a good liber, which 

 may be separated by retting. Several writers have alluded to this subject and 

 recommended its utilization, but apparently the people of India are not aware of 

 this fact, since no mention is made of their putting it to any useful purpose." As a 

 natjve use, however, should be mentioned the employment of the bark of Gossypium 

 tomentosum in the Sandwich Islands for rude twine. 





