162 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



sible withstands the action of water better^ is produced in 

 immense abundance in India and other places ; but it is 

 chiefly in the East that it is collected and prepared for the 

 purposes of matting and cordage. Its preparation is very 

 simple^ consisting of little more than beating the husks to se- 

 parate the fibres, which are dry and but loosely held together, 

 and afterwards drawing them through a coarse comb or 

 heckle, by which the refuse is cleaned out ; it is then spun 

 into yarns of different thickness and exported largely to 

 Europe, where it is now extensively manufactured into 

 valuable ropes, door-mats, and matting. In India it is very 

 generally used as cordage for vessels, and for fishing nets ; 

 its lightness recommends it especially for the latter purpose. 

 Its durability is surprising, and perhaps no vegetable fibre 

 will resist so long the injurious action of alternations of 

 dryness and moisture. The Coir-fibre is also made into 

 scrubbing-brushes, which are more durable than those made 

 from bristles, and the husk before the Coir is removed is 

 used by the poorer classes as an excellent substitute for 

 scrubbing-brushes. The imports of yarn and rope are 

 greatly increasing, the quantity imported in 1850 being, 

 as nearly as can be ascertained, 10,661 tons, chiefly into 

 London and Liverpool, from Ceylon and Bombay. 



