DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 293 



Notwithstanding the comparatively favorable report on this fiber, received so far 

 back as 1857, nothing has since been done to further its utilization. 



Semenzuolo (It.)- Straw-plait from wheat. See Triticum. 



Sennoc (Alg.). Lygeum spartum, 



Serenoa serrulata. The Saw Palmetto. 



Endogen. Palmce. A trunkless palm. 



This is sometimes called the scrub palmetto, as it forms the undergrowth of vast 

 areas of pine lands, and is found in other uncultivated tracts in Georgia and Florida, 

 and is also found in Alabama and Louisiana. The supply of the plants is almost 

 inexhaustible, for the palmetto grows everywhere, and its big roots, often as thick 

 as a man's leg — and which are produced at the rate of 20 cords to the acre — will 

 send forth an entire new crop of leaves within a year after clearing. The species is 

 allied to Ghamaerops humilis of northern Africa, the leaves of which supply the Crin 

 vegetal of commerce. Fig. 2, PI. X, illustrates the manner of growth of the saw 

 palmetto, in the pine barrens of the South; hence its name scrub palmetto. 



Structural Fiher. — The fiber secured from the leaf stems is used commercially 

 in the manufacture of a substitute for cows' hair, used in mixing mortar for plaster- 

 ing houses, a product both cheap and durable, as lime does not destroy it. It is 

 known as Nassau plastering fiber. The stiffer fiber when combed out is also used in 

 the manufacture of a coarse kind of whisk broom. A coarse cordage might also be 

 made from it, but it would lack in softness and strength compared with the com- 

 mercial fibers. The leaves can be shredded to make a good upholstery material, 

 and they also form a most valuable paper stock. Unless the cost of production 

 should prove an obstacle, there is no reason why a valuable Florida industry should 

 not be created by shredding the leaves of this palmetto for mattress fiber, as 1,000 to 

 2,000 tons of such fiber is brought from Africa to this country annually. (See Cha- 

 marops humilis.) Even if it did not pay to ship to the'northern fiber markets, local 

 industries could be established that would make a home demand for the fiber. A 

 difficulty, heretofore, in preparing this fiber, has been to give it the "curl" that is 

 found in imported Crin vegetal, and which adds so much to the elasticity or springi- 

 ness of the fiber in a mattress. This curl is given to Crin vegetal by twisting the 

 shredded fiber into coarse ropes for compactness in shipping. 



Attempts have been made at various times to establish this industry, and while a 

 number of satisfactory machines have been constructed for shredding the leaves, the 

 industry has never attracted attention . It has been claimed that to sell the mattress 

 material at $25 per ton, in order to compete with Crin vegetal, would entail a loss to 

 the manufacturers. In a statement from the manager of a company that was formed 

 seven or eight years ago, to manufacture this fiber, it was said that the raw material 

 was purchased at $3 to $5 per ton, and that there was about 70 per cent loss by waste 

 and evaporation. 



The fresh roots of S. serrulata which are 3 to 5 inches in diameter, are made into 

 cheap brushes. They are sawed into disks an inch or more in thickness, the pulp 

 scraped out; to the depth of two-thirds of an inch by means of toothed scrapiug 

 wheels, when the longitudinal fibers, thus exposed, form the bristles of the brush, 

 the untouched portion of the disk forming the back. This takes a fine polish, and 

 when the sides are shaped and polished the brush is completed. 



Both roots and leaves of the palmetto contain a large percentage of tannin, and 

 the extraction of the tannin from palmetto leaves has already become an industry. 

 Leather is said to be tanned with this product in twelve days, and it is claimed that it 

 can be more economically produced than the leather tanned with oak or hemlock 

 bark. The residue forms a valuable paper stock, which is also utilized. After the 

 tannin has been extracted the palmetto is steamed in a chemical solution, which 

 removes the silicate contained in the palmetto and changes the glossy shield to a 

 gummy mass, which can be removed without injury to the fiber. In making imitation 



