June, 1909.] 



527 



Fibres^ 



as to how to make them productive of 

 wealth, The object of the present note 

 is to draw the attention of our country- 

 men in general, how easily we can 

 amass a laige fortune at a trifling cost. 

 The main reasons for not makiug use of 

 the above industry are as follows :— 

 (1) The general ignorance about the 

 industry; (2) the comparative abund- 

 ance of other species of fibre-yielding 

 plants which can be easily and profit- 

 ably grown, and with whose fibres and 

 with the means of extracting which 

 the people have long been familiar, 

 and (3) the want of some simple, cheap 

 and efficient machine or appliance suited 

 to their means for extracting the fibre. 



Practical experience in decorticating 

 this fibre leads to the following con- 

 clusions : — 600 plants to the acre, 8h x 83 

 feet between each row of plants. 20 

 leaves, annual yield per plant. Average 

 weight of one leaf, lj seers, 2-|- per cent, 

 yield of libra to leaves. 225 maunds of 

 leaves per acre. 5 maunds 25 seers dry 

 clean fibre per acre. Prime cost of 

 one maund of fibre works at Rs. 6, in- 

 cluding wear and tear of machinery, 

 depreciation, etc. Present sale price in 

 Calcutta, Rs. 12 per maund of machine- 

 cleaned fibre. Plauts can be worked 

 four years from the time of planting 

 out. There are conflicting opinions -as 

 to the exact life of this plant. How- 

 ever this may be, it appears to be not 

 less than 25 to 30 years. 



Before, people used to extract fibre 

 in two ways, viz., (a) scraping and (b) 

 maceration, but a machine suited to 

 all classes for extracting the fibre of 

 agave and pineapple leaf and plantain 

 sheath can be had at Rs, 15 and Rs. 50 

 each. The machine is strong aud simple 

 in construction, portable and efficient 

 to easily extract the fibre- A number 

 of these machines may be run by 



bullock gear or any other power where 

 available. The fibre extracted is uni- 

 form in quality and length, and conse- 

 quently is best adapted to manufacturing 

 purposes and fetches a high price in 

 the market. The working of the machine 

 is so simple that any man can work it 

 successfully by two hours' practice. 



Now I shall explain two other separate 

 methods for extracting fibre, pointing 

 out the inconvenience one has to suffer. 



(a) Scraping. —The leaves are cut, the 

 shai p spines removed with a knife and 

 about six inches cut off from the top 

 of the leaf. The leaf is then beaten 

 with a wooden mallet on a smooth stone, 

 the beaten leaves would then be scraped 

 on a board with a blunt knife, water 

 being sprinkled upon it from time to 

 time until the gum or greenish portion 

 of the leaves were removed and only 

 the clean white fibre remained, the board 

 being held firmly by the toes. The 

 fibre would then be dried in the sun and 

 afterwards bundled. The fibre obtained 

 by this process without washing or 

 bleaching, though very clean and free 

 from pulp, cannot fetch high prices on 

 account of its shortness. 



(b) Maceration.— As in the previous 

 method of fibre extraction the leaves 

 are cut and the spines removed. The 

 whole leaf is then beaten with a wooden 

 mallet and thrown in bundles into a 

 tank (tar away from the city to avoid 

 the noxious smell) in which it is left 

 to macerate for three or four months 

 or until the pulps are quite decomposed. 

 The bundles are then taken out, washed 

 as jute, dried and bleached in the sun. 

 The fibre obtained by this process 

 though longer than that obtained by 

 scraping is not very clean, and hence 

 cannot fetch even nearly half the value. 

 Machine-made fibre is the best. 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



THE PAPAW, OR TREE-MELON. 

 (Carica Papaya.) 

 By. H. P. Macmillan. 



The Papaw is one of the most im- 

 portant and earliest fruits introduced 

 into Ceylon. A native of Tropical Ame- 

 rica and some West Indian islands, it 

 has been established and cultivated in 

 Ceylon since about 1670, having been 

 brought to the Island in ■ the time of 

 the Portuguese. It also appears to have 



been introduced early and grown in all 

 hot countries. In India and China its 

 history is traced back to 1611 and 1656 

 respectively. The large hollow fruits 

 borne in a cluster at the base of the 

 crown of leaves, are much relished as 

 a desert by some persons, being also 

 sometimes used in an unripe state as 

 a vegetable. The " flesh " or pulp of 

 the fruit is usually of a pinkish colour, 

 and of the consistency of firm butter. 

 It is agreeably refreshing, and consider- 

 ed an aid to digestion, owing to the 

 pepsin (papain) which it contains. It 



