THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Sept. 1, i»oo. 
94 THE FIBRES OF COMMERCE. 
or Namagua, forms a close texture of natural material, which the natives 
soak in water, beat and make into garments, beds, and ropes, or use as 
sails for their canoes. The mats which the poorer classes have to sleep 
upon are manufactured from the fibre of plantain leaves. 
The fibres or filaments vary according to the age of the stems or 
leaves of the plants. 
When they are obtained from the full-grown plantain stem, and the 
exterior leaves of the agave, aloe, and other similar jjlants, they are 
very strong and coarse, and are best adapted for cables, cordage, rope, 
canvass, sacking, the warp of carpets, and indeed for every description of 
this class of manufactures, where strength and durability are required. 
Ropes and cordage made from these are much stronger and more 
durable than those made from hemp, lighter and more pliable, do not 
require tarring, by whiih hempen ropes lose much of their strength, 
bear the alternation of dryness and moisture with little injury, and the 
difference in hygrometric action is considerable. 
There are several fibres obtained from the Malvaceous tribe of plants 
which deserve to be better known and more attended to. These are, 
according to their mode of preparation, strong, of different shades of 
colour from greyish white to brown. Some of the fibre is of great length, 
particularly the Hibiscus cannabinus and H. esculentus. The latter, the 
" bayndee " of the East, and the " ochre " of the West Indies is held in 
great esteem for its mucilaginous fruit as a pot -herb. Both these are 
grown abundantly all over India, and if found to answer for rope-making 
any quantity could be furnished, as more attention would be given to it 
if a commercial demand existed for the fibre, which is now wasted. Dr. 
Riddell, from experiments made on it, considers that the fibre, which 
he obtained almost white, would form an admirable paper-material, and 
prove a substitute for rags. The roselee plant (H. sabdariffa) produces 
a strong brown-coloured hemp ; and though when hackled the fibre is 
short, it might be converted into good rope. The preparation of the 
fibre, however, could never become very remunerative, unless the plant 
were cultivated in large quantities, and some simple crushing and 
scraping or combing machinery were substituted for the manual labour 
now employed in cleaning it. The fibre appears to be an important and 
useful article of commerce, the preparation of which on a large scale 
would probably prove remunerative. The points which would require 
to be carefully attended to, are, that the steeping and rotting process of 
cleaning should not be followed, but that the pulp should be separated 
from the fibre, if possible, the very day on which the leaves of the plant 
are cut. Should the fibres be required in large quantities for cordage 
or coarse purposes, they ought to be boiled in some tanning solution the 
day after they are cleaned. Tanning appears to answer better with fibre 
than tarring, and care must be taken in spinning into rope or string, 
that it be not too much twisted, as it then yields a stiff cordage that is 
apt to snap when suddenly twisted. 
