Fibres. 
T HE fibres of commerce are classified usually 
as hard or soft according to their texture 
and uses, their application depending 
partly on their texture and also on other qualities, 
principally capacity for spinning. 
Only about twelve of the large number of known 
fibres in the world have been utilised commercially. 
Flax has been in use for centuries, while hemp 
(Cannabis sativa ) was utilised later, but long before 
some of the tropical fibres now in use. 
The principal . hard fibres of commerce, which are 
derived entirely from plants, are Manila, Sisal, 
Mauritius, Bowstring and New Zealand hemp. 
These fibres are used almost entirely in the 
manufacture of cordage, i.e. ropes, twine, etc. The 
increasing use of mechanical harvesters for the 
harvesting of cereal crops has absorbed a large 
quantity of the hard fibres in the form of binder 
twine. 
At the present time the world's consumption of 
hard fibres is over 350,000 tons. 
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