13 
[ Rep. No. 564. j 
culture, I .consider a positive and permanent additition to national wealth. 
For this reason, I viewed the letter of our consul at Campeachy, which 
you had the goodness to enclose to me, on the - subject of the Campeachy 
or Sisal hemp, as being well worthy of attention. The use of what is 
commonly called the g?'as.s rope has been extending itself in the United 
States in a surprising manner of late years. Nearly all our steamboats 
on the Western waters use no other, and it is getting rapidly into use for 
hawsers, pully-ropes, rugs, and even for the running rigging of our mer¬ 
chant ships; indeed, it is impossible at present to say to what extent its^ 
uses may be carried. It is lighter, stronger, and more durable than com¬ 
mon hemp, and may be applied to many purposes to better advantage 
than that article. I do not know what quantity is imported in the manu¬ 
factured or unmanufactured state ; but this is certainly a subject well wor- , 
thy of the attention of the patriotic statesman, as I have ascertained, in 
the most satisfactory manner, that the plant is a native of Florida, and 
of the Southern States in the same latitude. 
From the exact similarity of the ropes made by the Florida Indians, I 
was satisfied that it was made from the same plant which was pointed 
out by Spanish gentlemen here as the pita cultivated in Campeachy. I 
have lately seen a person from that country, to whom I exhibited the 
plant, and he positively assures me that it is the same. It is of the palm 
family, resembles the bouquet palmetto; the leaves are softer and more 
pliant, but it has a sharp point or needle like it. My friend and fellow- 
traveller, Mr. Nutall, can give you its botanical name and character.^ 
The plant requires considerable space—say at least five feet square; is 
placed in hills or squares, like Indian corn, and will occup}^ the whole by its 
leaves and side shoots. I should think about a thousand plants might be 
placed on an acre, producing at least a pound of hemp to each ; and if 
the culture should be successful, it must afford immense profits to those 
who will first engage in it, as it will require few hands. The plant being 
perennial, the plantation, once made, will last for years. 
The pita grows in great abundance, even in the poor sandy pine lands ; 
but, on the thin oak and hickory ridges, where the soil, although sandy, 
is more fertile, it grows in perfection. The new settlers now begin to use 
it for domestic purposes; they rot it, by throwing it into a pond or stream 
of water for a month, when the fibre is separated from the bark with 
great ease. As it is easily transplanted, I have no doubt a sufficient quan¬ 
tity can be obtained at once, in its wild state, to make a respectable field, 
almost anywhere, in the space of a mile or two. I know, from actual ex¬ 
periment, that it can be transplanted without difficulty; that it will bear to 
be cut once a year ; and will, in that period, again attain the former size, 
or even greater. 
Would it not be well to make some more minute inquiries of our con¬ 
sul as to the mode of cultivating this valuable plant? It certainly de¬ 
serves to be encouraged by our Government ; at least, the necessary in¬ 
formation might be procured for the benefit of those enterprising individu¬ 
als who may be disposed to engage in it. 
With sentiments of respect, I am your most obedient servant, 
H. M. BRACKENRIDGE. 
Hon. J. M. White. 
» Yiicca gloriosa. 
