AUGUST i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
239 
Th 
24* or more in wiuter. When the mass is firm enough 
to hear cutting, it is divided by a razor into very 
thin sections, which give the best results when they 
exhibit the consistence of wax. Several examples 
should be taken from different parts of the sample, 
and especially from both ends of the fibres. 
E. —TI10 sections are next examined in one of the 
neutral liquids boforc prescribed. If the glue does 
not dissolve in it, recourse may be had to boiling in 
distilled water. After drying between blotting-paper, 
the ."ample is submitted to the microscope while lying 
in the neutral liquid. The fibres arc occasionally 
flattened and present an oblong section, which should 
F. — The application of re-agents follows. Into 2 or 
3 drops of the iodine solution is put some powder 
or fragments of the glued sample. In cold weather 
the glass plate should be warmed to facilitate the 
solution, of the glue. The iodine eolation should be 
absorbed gradually, and the powder should be spread 
s of iodine is removed 
nple is covered by a second 
cid is introduced as in pre- 
ide of the exterior form of 
the sections, the thickness of their walls, and the 
form of the central cavity. Some fibres appear to be 
a compact and homogeneous substance, 
:;oncentiic coats, which assume various 
! ; some present fissures or perpendicular 
ins on both the interior and exterior surfaces, 
hich seem to radiate from the centre; some 
1 a yellow granular matter, while others are 
anil some are bordered with a yellow line. 
It is often useful to examine fhe fibres as they 
exist in the plant to determine their position, relative 
abundance and nature. Sections are taken of the fibre- 
yielding portion of the plant, which must be either 
freshly cut or soaked in water. These are placed to 
macerate for several hours in a mixture of glycerine 
and writer, and are then treated with a few drops 
of concentrated glycerine, which penetrates them and 
renders them transparent. 
H. — These sections may also by examined under 
rc-ageuts, in which case they are not macerated in 
dilute glycerine but in alcohol, in order to eliminate 
any resinous matters they may contain. They are 
then dried before the treatment with iodine. 
The foregoing tests are intended for distinguishing 
the fibres of ono plant from those of another. To 
discriminate between vegetable fibres and animal fibres 
(see Hair, Silk, Wool), the following observations 
IMllip 
other 
shad.> 
striat 
aud ' 
"''I*. 
.Ill, 
Wl 
heated in solutious of alkalies or 
ssolve, and decompose into glucose 
'hey burn readily aud with a flash. 
about 3 years to come to perfection, but it is exceed- 
ingly hardy, easy of propagation, very prolific, and 
grows in atid wastes where scarcely any ottier plant 
can live. It perishes after inflorescence, which does 
not occur till the 8th-20th year, but it then sends 
up numerous shoots. In Mexico, 5,(J00-G,(W0 plants 
oontinued application of heat, and emit an odour 
:e burning horn or feathers. 
A ready method of estimating the proportion of 
is (cellulose) yielded by a plant is to macerate it 
r some hours in water ; crush it by passing it 
tween wooden rollers, subject it to the action of 
weak (G por cont) solution of carbonate of soda, 
d then to steam at a pressure of 4-5 atmos., until 
e celluloso is extracted as a yellowish-brown mass, 
lis is a preliminary test of the value of a plant 
r paper-making. 
Aii.xvu Americana— Centi ry-Plaht, Mexican on 
Spanish Aloe (Fr., Pile, Aloes; Mex. Pita Maguey).— 
Bndogen, 24-36 ft. Indigenous to all ports of Tropical 
America, from tho plains to 10,000 ft., now natural- 
ized 111 S. Europe, Mauritius Algeria, throughout 
India, and the Pacific Islamic The plant require* 
may be found on 
leaves is 40, each 
wide, and yield in 
The culture of the 
but not in the p 
In India, it is all 
many pans, a 
plant, but its 
acre, i He average number or 
isuring 8-10 feet long and 1 ft. 
0 per cent by weight of fibre, 
it is being extended in America, 
tion which its value deserves. 
neglected ; it grows wild in 
raetimes cultivated as a hedge- 
ddom and badly prepared, is 
harsh aud brittle, though of good colour. Care would 
effect great improvements. 
The native methods of preparing the fibre are very 
primitive: — (1) The leaves are cut and steeped in 
water, then beaten with sticks and rubbed with stones 
or scraped with shells or wooden blades to remove 
the non-fibrous portion, and finally washed and bleached 
in the sun. This plan causes stains and a tendency 
to rot, and thus reduces the value of the fibre. (2) 
The leaves arc cut and deprived of about G in. of 
the pointed end, then well beaten or bruised with 
wooden mallets on a smooth surface of stone or wood, 
tied in bundles of 4 leaves, and laid in heaps Lo fer- 
ment. The beating removes much of the sap, and 
the fermentation helps to loosen the fibre -without 
damaging it. When the heat has subsided, the bun- 
dles are thrown into water, and steeped for about a 
fortnight ; after washing, the fibre appears clean and 
white. It is then dried, shaken and packed. 
The process of retting has been proved injurious 
to the fibres of all endogens, and mechanical contriv- 
ances have been invented for separating the fibres 
from the leaves of the agave and similar plants. In 
employing the machines described below, an abundant 
supply of water is a matter of great importance, as 
its copious use expedites the process and ensures a 
fibre of good colour and strength. The leaves should 
be cut before they are over-ripe : it is preferablo to 
cut them too soon rather than too late, as over-ripe 
leaves produce coarse fibre of inferior colour. They 
should be put through the first process immediately 
after they have been cut, as the longer they are 
allowed to lie before crushing, the more difficult is 
the separation of their fibres. 
The machines described above are made by Thos. 
Barraclough, of Manchester, who was good euough to 
furnish the drawings which illustrate them. They 
can be driven by steam, water, or cattle power ; a 
gear suitable for 2 horses or 2-4 bullocks suffices to 
drive a small set of machines, viz., one crushing-mach- 
ine, one squeezing-machine, aud two scraping-machines, 
being that portion of the set which is used during 
the time tho leaves are being cut. The same gear is 
afterwards used for driving the two scraping-machines, 
transformed into brushing-machines, aud the softening- 
nuchiue (where required). The squee/ing-machine is 
also made to be worked by hand. The hydraulic 
pumps for the press can be easily worked by hand 
in the absence of ste un or water power. 
The length of the fibre varies from 3 to 7 ft.; the 
colour of the commerieal article is white to straw- 
colour. Its main faults nre the stifToess, shortness 
and thinness of wall of the individual fibres, and 
a liability to rot ; but theso are greatly reduced by 
tho crushing of the fibres iu tho above-described 
maohines, so as to liberate the interior viscid juice. 
Tho breaking strain of a ropo of this fibre has been 
stated at 270-362 lb., as against Russian hemp at 
100 lb. Its US' S are various. Iu its native com tries, 
it is applied to tho manufacture of ropes, twiuc, 
fishing-net, hammocks, Ac. It is exported for ad- 
mixture with Manilla hemp {Stusa t*xiilli), for all 
kinds of cordage. Bleached and dyed, it is made. 
