98 
[ Rep. No. 564. ] 
2d. Their extension on a humid soil, under the shade of large trees, and 
turning them occasionally during several days, until their cellular sub¬ 
stance be decomposed or destroyed. 
3d. The mechanical crushing or bruising of the petiolar stalk or lamina 
until the utricles be destroyed, the juices expelled, and there remains sole¬ 
ly a mass of fibres, which can be cleaned by washing. 
Mons. Perrottet, however, has discovered one fact relative to the ex¬ 
traction of the petio-foliaceous fibres which is applicable to all Endogenous 
plants whose leaves or petioles yield valuable fibres. That important 
fact is, that maceration, rotting, or decomposition, of the cellular substance 
of the leaves or of the petioles, does really weaken or destroy the parallel 
longitudinal fibres; and that hence speedy mechanical separation or 
scraping is the simplest and the only mode to obtain foliaceous dr peti- 
foliaceous fibres of the greatest strength, whiteness, and brilliancy. The 
fibres called Manilla hemp, in common with the fibres called Sisal hemp, 
are stronger, lighter, more durable, and more elastic, than the fibres of 
common hemp. Until November last, the subscriber was not positively 
convinced that the long coarse fibres, called Manilla hemp, were obtained 
from any species of Banana ; but some imperfectly dressed fibres, which 
retained the cuticle of the petiole, and some straps of the petioles them¬ 
selves, of two different colors, have dissipated his doubts, and he trusts, 
also, the doubts of the committee. 
Our ministerial agent to the East Indies, Mr. Roberts, under the head 
of exports from Manilla, spells the name of the fibres in three different 
ways : Abacia, Abacd, and Av^cd; and states that the production and ex¬ 
port of the Manilla hemp has greatly increased in a few past years. The 
great recommendation of this plant to the subscriber is two-fold : first, 
that it will propagate itself in the marshes of tropical Florida, and sec¬ 
ondly, that its fibrous crop can be obtained within a year from the trans¬ 
plantation of the suckers. 
The very fact that this Banana is propagable by suckers alone, in common 
with the Agave of Sisal, places the transportation of either beyond the 
means of individual enterprise, especially as the inhabitants both of the 
Philippines and Mexico would interpose obstacles to the acquisition of a 
cargo of living plants by any private foreigner. 
PALMS. 
The Rev. R. Walsh, in his travels through Brazil during 1828-9, dis¬ 
covered the Ticu Palm growing in marshy spots. This fibrous-leaved 
palm, (the Bactris acanthocarpos,) the Brazilians are beginning to use as 
a substitute for flax and hemp. “ The leaf is long, and exceedingly 
covered with small spines. When bent in the middle, the ribs of 
the leaf, which are very brittle, crack and separate ; the ends are then 
drawn down at each side, and leave a series of strong fibres of the best 
quality behind theni, which are very applicable to the purposes of manu¬ 
facture. The tree is from 15 to 20 feet high, and the stem is as thick as 
the wrist, divided into joints, with a circle of spines around each. It 
yields also 'a cluster of acid fruits on the summit of the stem; each fruit 
consists of a stone, covered over with a pulp, and enclosed in a purple 
skin, so that the cluster is very like a bunch of grapes. The fruit is cool¬ 
ing and agreeable in a hot day, and is sometimes made into vinegar. The 
