THE INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS.
these leaves are distinguished by having their veins in all cases parallel to oneanother, and also longitudinal.
All flowering plants are divided into two great classes, called by botanistsExogens and Endogens, which are distinguished from each other by their struc-ture, appearance, and to some extent, by their geographical distribution. The for-mer, constituting by far the largest part of the vegetable kingdom, present the.aspect and structure, which are familiar in all the trees and shrubs of temperateregions. The stems of Exogens are made up of a central pith, surrounded byconcentric zones of wood, one of which is added on the exterior each year, andan external bark which covers and protects the whole. The veins of their leavesform a net-work, and are articulated to the stem; and their floral organs are nor-mally arranged in fives. Endogenous plants attain noble arborescent forms onlyin tropical climates. The tulips of our gardens, the cereal grasses, the maize andthe sugar cane belong to this class. Their stems present no distinction of centralpith, or woody circles, or separable bark; but the woody fibres produced in theleaves run towards the centre of the stem, and finally curve outward to terminatein the exterior rind. The wood is hardest and most compact at the circumference.Their leaves always have straight and parallel veins, and are adherent to the stalk;and the parts of the flowers are arranged normally in threes or multiples of thatnumber. It is only in tropical and subtropical regions that endogenous plants at-tain any very great development, or yield fibres suitable for textile purposes. Toan inhabitant of the northern temperate zone an endogenous plant whose greenleaves yield valuable fibres, is a curiosity only to be seen in conservatories andbotanical gardens.
Six orders of Endogens yield foliaceous fibres which are commercially valuable.
The Liliaceae, or Lily Tribe .—The species of this tribe are widely scatteredover the world. They are, however, much more abundant in the temperate zonethan in tropical regions, where they exist chiefly in an arborescent state. Thisorder includes the different species of Aloes, the Yucca of the Southern States,and the Phormium Tenax, or Flax Lily of New Zealand. The Aloes are foundmostly in Africa; one species is, however, a native of the West Indies, and twoor three are indigenous to the Arabian Peninsula and Southern Asia. A speciesof Aloe found at the Canary Islands, the A. Dracaenas , is described as from seventyto eighty feet in height, with a diameter at the base of sixteen feet.
In the East Indies Liliaceous Plants are rare. In New Holland and New Zea-land they form a distinctly marked feature of the vegetation. In countries wherethe woody and prickly species of aloes abound, they are often planted as hedges;some species are often described by travellers as the Agave, or Bromelia, whichthey resemble in a degree. Of the Yucca, which belongs to this order, there areat least five species indigenous to the United States, flourishing naturally upon thepoorest soils, from the Potomac to Texas. Their botanical names are YuccaJilamentosa, Y. gloriosa, Y. aloifolia, Y. angustifoMa, and Y. recurvifolia. Thecommon names and synonyines for the Y. jfilamentosa, are bear grass, silk grass,Eve’s thread, and everlasting. The Y gloriosa is known as the Spanish bayonet,Adam’s needle, Petre and Dwarf Palmetto. All the species afford an abundanceof the strongest, fibres, from six inches to two feet in length. Of the Y.filamen-tosa, Elliot in his Botany of South Carolina says, “it appears to possess thestrongest fibres of any vegetable whatever, and if it can be raised with facility■will furnish a valuable article in domestic economy.” The Phormium Tenax, orNew Zealand Flax Lily, was discovered during the voyage of Captain Cook, and■was introduced into Europe in 1791 by the French Botanist, Labillardiere. It hasbecome acclimated, and flourishes well in the South of France, and also in Al-geria. It furnishes a beautifully strong, fine fibre, which is used to some consider-able extent. This plant has also been introduced into South Carolina, and otherSouthern States, where it flourishes and propagates itself in a wild state.
Bromeliaceae , or Pine Apple Tribe .—These are all, without exception, nativesof the continent and islands of America, from whence they have migrated in suchnumbers, that they now constitute a part of the flora of the west coast of Africa,and some parts of the East Indies. The leaves of the common pine apple, withwhose fruit every one is so familiar, furnish fibres from which very fine muslinhas been manufactured.
Amaryllidaceos .—It is from the agaves of this order that the best knownfoliaceous fibres are produced. The leaves are thick, pulpy, and of a greenishgray color. Their length varies from one to fifteen or twenty feet, and the fibreswhich are obtained from them by simple scraping, in the manner hereafter de-scribed, are proportionally long. The species producing the well known SisalHemp, and other varieties, are known as the Agave Sisalana, Agave Americana,the Henequen de Sosquil of Yucatan, the Ixtla of Goa^filcoalcos, the Yashqui,Sacqui, and the Pita. Several of these species were introduced into the UnitedStates in 1837, and have since become naturalized. Leaves have been exhibitedat the north during the past year, cut on one of the Florida Keys, over ten feet inlength, and yielding fibres far superior to the so-called Manilla Hemp.
Pandancece, or Screw Pine Tribe .—Plants of this order are extremely abun-dant on the coral islands of the South Pacific and the Indian Archipelago, andalso upon the Isle of France. In America they are rare. The Pandanus growsnaturally upon arid, sandy, or rocky soils, and from the upper part of the stems
shoot out numerous aerial roots, which burying themselves in the soil, serve asstays or braces, and prevent the plant from being uprooted by the winds. Theleaves of all this species are fibrous, and in the South Pacific furnish almost theonly material for bagging, cordage, mats, baskets, huts, and clothing. The fibresare generally white, smooth and lustrous, all the species are easily propagated,and their natural habitat appears to be those sterile arid districts of the tropics,which are unfit for any other useful vegetation.
Musacem , or Banana Tribe .—The gigantic leaves of the plants of this orderhave parallel longitudinal fibres, which start from the point of the leaf, and runningbetween thin laminm of green cellular matter, are gathered up to form the stalk,or petiole which sustains the leaf. The Bananas are found in their greatest per-fection at the Cape of Good Hope, in the Indian Archipelago, and in BritishGuiana, and some of the West India Islands. One species is now naturalized inLouisiana; another is cultivated with success in Europe as high as 33° or 34 N. L.In their habits of growth, they generally prefer humid, or marshy soils, deepravines, and moist forests; one species is of a hardy nature, and prefers a moun-tainous and elevated locality. The fibre exported in such large quantities fromthe Philippine Islands, under the name of Manilla Hemp, is obtained from plantsof this order, Ifusa paradisiaca and M. textilis. Specimens of the fibres of theplantain are exhibited among the collections from British Guiana.
Palmacem , or Palms .—The plants of this order furnish the noblest and mostcharacteristic vegetation of tropical countries, and yield products most useful andnecessary to man. Among these diversified products are, flour, starch, yeast,sugar, wine, alcohol, oil, wax, resins, milk, butter, vinegar, fruit, and medicines;household utensils and building materials, cordage and thread, paper and cloth,weapons, and habitations. One species, th eAreca catechu , furnishes the betel-nut;another, the Borasus flabelliformis, yields the arrack of the East Indies; the Cocosnucifera is the cocoa-nut palm, and supplies also the strong supple fibres knownas coi?’, of which when the Dutch were in possession of Ceylon, 3,000,000 lbs.weight were annually manufactured. The American species of palm, which areespecially valuable for affording a supply of superior fibre, are the Ticu Palm ofthe Brazils, the Morriclie Palm of the delta of the Oronoco, and the Gomuty Palmof the West Indies.
Plants of the above described orders, sustain the same relation in respect tofibre, to southern and sub-tropical climates, that the flax and hemp bear to thenorthern and temperate zones. In other respects the endogenous fibrous plantsare also of great value and utility. Clavigero, in his work on Mexico, speaking ofthe Agave (pita, or maguey), says—•“ Some species furnish protecting inclosures,and afford impassable hedges to other objects of cultivation. From the juice ofothers are extracted honey, sugar, vinegar, pulque, and ardent spirits. From thetrunk and thickest portion of the leaves roasted in the earth, an agreeable food isobtained. The stalks serve as beams, and the leaves as roofs for houses. Thethorns answer for lancets, awls, needles, arrow-heads, and other cutting and pen-etrating instruments. But the fibrous substance of the leaves is the most impor-tant gift of the agave genus to Mexico. According to the species, the fibre variesin quality from the coarsest hemp to the finest flax, and may be employed as asuperior substitute for both. From it, the ancient Mexicans fabricated their threadand cordage, mats and bagging, shoes and clothing, and webs, equivalent to cam-bric and canvas; the hammocks in which they are born, repose and die; the paperon which they painted their histories, and with which they adorned and adoredtheir gods. The value of the agaves is enhanced by their indifference to soil,climate and season; by the simplicity of their cultivation, and by the facility ofextracting and preparing their products. It is not, therefore, surprising that theancient Mexicans used some part or preparation of their plants in their civil,,military and religious ceremonies, at marriages and deaths, nor that they perpet-uated an allusion to their properties in the name of their capital.”
Humboldt, Hernandez, Warden, and Poinsett, all unite in bearing similar tes-timony to the value of the Mexican agave.
The foliaceous fibres of American production, best known in commerce, arethose produced in the vicinity of Merida, in Yucatan, and exported under thegeneral name of Sisal Hemp. The bales of this hemp, as they come into ourmarkets, generally contain fibres of very different materials, but the greater partare the produce of the plants known as the pita, or ixlta, and the sosquil, the hen-equen or the jenequen. The pita grow3 wild in forests, and furnishes extremelyfine and strong fibres which can be used for sewing thread. The sosquil, or hene-quen, on the contrary, grows in the sun spontaneously throughout the whole ofYucatan, in the most sterile and arid places; it is also cultivated and yields acoarse fibre greatly resembling Manilla hemp. The method of cultivation and pre-paration followed in Yucatan for producing the “ Sisal Hemp,” is as follows: theyoung plants are placed about twelve Spanish feet apart, a stony or sandy locationbeing preferred. During the first two years some labor is required to destroy theweeds between them. The shoots, when transplanted, should be about three feethigh, and are ready to yield two years afterwards. The third year the cutting ofthe lower rows of leaves is commenced, and every four months the operation isrepeated. Each robust plant is capable of yielding not less than twenty-five, ormore than one hundred leaves annually, and will continue to produce in like
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