78 
; [ Eep. No. 564. ] 
PROPAGATION OF FIBROUS-LEAVED PLANTS. 
To the honoi'oble the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep- 
resentatives of the United States. 
Washington, D. C., February 3, 1838. 
The introduction of fibrous-leaved plants into tropical Florida, their 
propagation throughout the sterib soils of all our Southern and South- 
Avestern States, the production of their fibrous foliage, and the prepara¬ 
tion of their foliaceous fibres, by small cultivators and family manufac¬ 
turers, are topics which have occupied my heart, head, and hands, during 
the last ten years. 
My unshaken opinions of the immensa importance of the endogenous 
plants, whose living leaves yield textile fibres, have been expressed in 
numerous communications te the Government and to the people of these 
United States ; but as many sheets remain on the'files of the Departments 
in Washington, and numerous letters have not yet appeared in the peri¬ 
odicals of agriculture, I now attempt to present a very brief abridgment 
of the contents of them all, for the consideration of your committee and of 
Congress. To excite the attention of my readers towards some details of 
some species of fibrous-leaved plants, I premise a few general statements 
applicable to the whole. 
GENERAL STATEMENTS. 
The fibrous-leaved plants are all hardy, productive, perennial plantSj' 
which profitably propagate themselves bn sandy, stony, and swampy sur-. 
faces, in the sun and in the shade. Their fibrous leaves, produced in any ' 
soil and situation, Avith the least care or cultiAmtion, may be cut in any 
weather and at every season of the year. These freshly-cut leaves may 
be immediately manufactured into excellent paper, so cheaply, that it will 
become as important an auxiliary to popular education as the printing- 
press itself. These living perennial leaves Avill yield their fibrous con¬ 
tents in the shortest possible time, Avith the simplest possible preparations, as 
the foliaceous fibres are extracted from tl-o green leaves by simple scraping 
only; and immediately after this mechanical separation, these parallel 
longitudinal fibres are ready for baling and exportation, or for manufac¬ 
ture. These fresh-foliaceous fibres have so much individual strength, 
length, and elasticity, that they may be instantly wrought, untwisted^ into 
very cheap forms and fabrics, for which the unspun cortical fibres of hemp 
and flax are entirely uhserviceable. Moreover, these foliaceous fibres are 
so much cheaper, lighter, stronger, longer, more elastic, and more durable 
than cortical fibres, that they can be spun into thread, twine, and cordage, 
and can be AVbveh into Avebs, muslins, or cloths, finer thdii cambric and 
coarser than canvass, which will become superior substitutes for similar 
manufactures of flax and hemp in the general consumption of mankind. 
Furthermore,many of said fibrous-leaved plants form excellent hedges for 
themselves and for Other objects of cultivation, and the entire leaves of 
many species constitute the best materials for the simplest manufactures 
of the cheapest possible matting, baling, bagging, and other envelopes of 
merchandise, for the really domestic manufactures, or farm, familyj and 
female manufactures of hats, bonnets, baskets, and other articles, by an 
imiocent, independent, and rural population. A still more important con- 
