DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 307 



Experiments in the United States. — An effort was made in 1868 to introduce 

 the culture of Esparto into this country. Seed was obtained from Paris seedsmen, 

 which was distributed in the South for planting on the hill lands and mountain 

 slopes, but nothing practical was accomplished. Viewing the culture in this coun- 

 try from the agricultural standpoint, there is no doubt it will thrive in many locali- 

 ties, but from the economic standpoint it can never become an American industry. 



Soil, climate, and culture. — The plant does not thrive in clay, on marsh lands, 

 or in a pebbly soil. Soils impregnated Avith oxide of iron are favorable, and cal- 

 careous soils produce strong fiber. On argillaceous soils (decomposed shale, etc.) 

 the grass is shorter but the liber stronger. It requires a decidedly hot and some- 

 what dry climate. Spon states that the plant succeeds best at moderate elevations 

 on the seacoast, none comparing with those where the plant is under the immediate 

 influence of the sea air. Here the fiber is fine, short, and even. At the same time, 

 much finer Esparto, with longer leaf, is found inland, but instead of being all of 

 uniformly superior kind the prime will form only one-half or one-fifth even of the 

 whole, the remainder being coarse and rank. Sunshine is eminently beneficial, if 

 not essential. The coast grass is preferred by paper makers, while the longer growth 

 from the interior is sought after for making sieves, baskets, etc. 



The plant is propagated by seed, by transplanting old plants, and by burning over 

 the tracts. "The surface portions are alone affected by the fire, the stalks sending 

 up a vigorous growth, producing in five years a halfa much sought after, the halfa 

 Mane, the flexible leaves of which are used in manufactures." (Trdbut.) When 

 transplanted, in autumn, the roots are divided into several pieces and set out in rows 

 2 feet apart and about 8 inches in the row. Spon states that transplanted plants 

 are productive in six to eight years, while from the seed no return may be expected 

 before twelve years. 



Harvesting. — The leaf of the halfa, when thoroughly developed, is composed of 

 two parts, the blade or lamina and the sheaf, which are united by articulation. The 

 tissues are not continuous; the innumerable fibers, which give the blade its remark- 

 able solidity, cease suddenly on a line with this articulation. By a slight thrust the 

 blade is separated from the sheath. This ease of disarticulation is the starting point 

 of all the processes of stripping or extraction. The blades can be gathered by hand 

 if a stout pair of gloves be worn, and in this way the more carefully selected. This 

 is by far the best method if we would preserve the plant, but it is not always prac- 

 ticed. A laborer does not accomplish so much in this way as by the old way of beat- 

 ing them with a small stick, which is followed entirely in factories, and has been 

 from the most remote periods. The laborer, having in his left hand a stick 40 centi- 

 meters in size, with a leather strap at the handle, seizes a handful of leaves with his 

 right hand, wraps them around the stick, which is held obliquely, and then pulls 

 strongly with both his hands. Numberless blades become disarticulated, and two 

 or three roots of the stock break and come with them. The laborer passes his right 

 hand under the lower edges up the blade and encounters the pendant rootlets, which 

 lie throws away with the leaves that adhere to them, keeping, if possible, only the 

 disarticulated blades, of which he makes a bunch or "manoque" by putting together 

 the product of several bunches. Notwithstanding this first sorting, the halfa carries 

 with it to the factory many sheafs. The ends of the stalk and the sheaths are used 

 as forage, and are gathered with the plants that are used for this purpose. Horses 

 nnd camels are very fond of the base of the sheath. When halfa lias been dried, 

 assorted, and classified, it is weighed, baled, and subjected to hydrostatic pressure; 

 then it is taken to the seaboard and exported. 



An industrious laborer will average from 300 to 400 kilograms of green halfa in a 

 day, a native from 150 to 200, a woman or old man 100, children 12 or 15 years old 

 from 35 to 50 kilograms. The same method of gathering halfa is practiced through- 

 out the halfa region, and there seems to have been no change in it since the time of 

 Pliny. This gathering by means of the batonnet or stick will not be given up until 

 a machine shall have been invented which will yield a larger return. (Trahut.) 



