Sept. 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 
THE FIBRES OP COMMERCE. 89 
cultivator and merchant ; but until of late years there was no great de- 
mand for new textile or cordage substances. The process of disengaging 
the fibre is so simple, compared with the elaborate processes attending 
the separation of hemp and fl. ix, and the expense and labour so trifling, 
that it is surprising the raw material has not before this been made an 
extensive article of commerce. 
When we perceive how large the traffic in coir, the short prepared 
husky covering of the cocoa-nut, has become, it is an earnest of encour- 
agement for those who choose to embark in new undertakings for the 
supply of commercial fibres. 
The coir or fibre obtained from the husky covering of the cocoa-nut 
is even now of great commercial importance, and might be made more 
so in conjunction with the equally valuable pulp or kernel for food and 
for oil. Coir and coir-rope to the value of 30,000Z. or 4O,O00Z. is annually 
imported in the three Indian Presidency towns, while we receive as much 
as 162,000^. worth. The nuts grown at the sea-side yield most fibre ; 
three of them will produce a pound of coir, while ten from the interior 
give no more in weight, though the coir will be purer. For stulfing 
mattrasses this substance is considered better in India than hair. Sail- 
cloth, oakum, and much of the coarse baling cloth so much in use, are 
made from it; and coir cables are coming into more general service in 
Europe for their strength and elasticity, and are ever replacing chain 
cables for large ships. 
Although coir ropes have been employed in the East from time im- 
memorial, it is scarcely a quarter of a century that they have been 
introduced into this country, and now we use up at least 6,000 tons a 
year of cocoa-nut fibre for various purposes — cordage, matting, brush- 
making, stuffing bedding, &c. For ships' cables it is especially esteemed , 
being very durable, elastic, and buoyant, and not chafing by friction. 
Forty years ago, the House of Assembly of Jamaica tried to stimu- 
late the production of plantain-fibre rope by liberal rewards, but tKe 
want of suitable machinery to prepare it, and the more profitable return 
of sugar and coffee production there at that time, caused the subject to 
be neglected as a commercial speculation. However, experiments made 
in the Port Royal Dockyard with ropes of the Government dimensions, 
showed that the breaking weight of various samples ranged from 3£ 
to Q\ cwt. 
The manufacture of cloth and rope from the plaintain is no new 
discovery, for the Indians and natives of South America have long been 
in the habit of using the fibre for these purposes. The celebrated cir- 
cumnavigator, Dampier, notices the process as common in the Indian 
Archipelago, more than a century ago, as follows : — " They take the 
body of the tree, clear it of its outward bark and leaves, cut it into four 
quarters, which put into the sun, the moisture exhales ; they then take 
hold of the threads at the ends and draw them out ; they are as big as 
brown thread ; of this they make cloth, in Mindanao, called * saggen/ 
vol. vi. j. 
