THE NEW-YORK EXHIBITION

ILLUSTRATED.

manner from five to ten years in succession. Seventy-five ordinary leaves areestimated to yield seven and a half pounds of fibre; the most productive leavesbeing those of'the fourth cutting. At intervals of two years, shoots are thrownou t from the roots, from five to ten in number, in a state to be transplanted ;these are removed, with a single exception, to form new plantations, and theparent plant is also out clown when the shoot left has givwn sufficiently to supplyUs place. If the original plant is suffered to grow, it eventually shoots up intogigantic flower stalks, from twenty to thirty feet in height, with its superior ex-tremity covered with innumerable little plants, which have received the name ofhene quencitos. The hardiness of the young shoots may be inferred from the factthat when cut from the parent they are exposed to the sun for fifteen or twentydays to “ cicatrize their wounds,” as a necessary preparation for replanting. “ Thesimplicity of their cultivation,” says a writer on this subject in 1838, “maybeconceived from the statement, that there is not a hoe, nor a spade, nor a harrow,nor a plough, employed in the agriculture of all Yucatan.”

The instruments and the method used by the natives of Yucatan for extractingthe fibres from the leaves, are of the rudest description. A triangular strip ofbard wood, with sharp edges from eight to twelve inches long, and from one tothree inches thick, is with them an equivalent to the shaving-knife of the cur-riers, by which they scrape away from each side of the leaf on a hoard restingagainst the breast, the cuticle and pulpy substance that covers the fibres. Anothermode of accomplishing the same object is, by pressing the sharp semi-hmar oxtremity of a long flat stick against any fixed surface upon a narrow longitudinalstrip of the leaf, which is then drawn through by the unemployed hand. Thelength, weight, strength, and other qualities of the fibres, as well as the labor ofseparating them, vary with the magnitude, age, and position of the leaves, thefibres, after being freed from the investing pulpy matter, are washed and dried inthe sun, which thus completes the labor of preparation, and the Sisal hemp is then1 ea dy for exportation or manufacture.

Concerning the amount of Sisal hemp exported from Mexico and Central Amer-ica, we have no precise data. According to some statistics of the department ofV cra Cruz, published at Jalapa, in 1831, the amount of fibre extracted from thettta, and exported in 1830 from the port of Goazacoaleos alone, was 188,600Pounds. Large quantities of Sisal hemp are also exported every year to Cuba, andmanufactured into coffee bags. The fibre which it most closely resembles, is the'"'ell-known “Manilla hemp,” to which it is every way equal as regards strengtha, nl appearance, and in the opinion of some judges, the best qualities of Sisal hempai 'e superior to the Manilla. The importations of Manilla hemp into the UnitedStates are very large, with a constant yearly increase. The number of bales im-ported into Boston in 1849 was 31,271; with an average weight of 300 lbs. perbale, we have a total of 9,381,300 lbs. All this large amount of fibre might havebeen furnished equally well by the fibrous endogenous plants of America and ofthe United States, had this business received an equal amount of care and atten-tion. It must especially be remembered, that the Manilla hemp is not, as its nameWould indicate, a true hemp, the production of the genus Cannabis , but is a truefoliaceous fibre, derived from the stalk and leaves of an endogenous plant, alliedto the plants producing the Sisal hemp, viz., from the Musa textilis, and paradisaioavarieties of the Musacem, or Banana tribe. The processes for the extraction andcleansing of the Manilla fibres are very similar to those described above, as followedby the natives of Yucatan, for the preparation of the Sisal hemp. The vegetabletissues enclosing the fibres are scraped off by means of wooden instruments, and thefibres subsequently washed and dried. Other methods, followed to some extent,are to macerate the leaves in water, or expose them to the influence of the air inhumid places, in the shade, until the investing cellular substance is destroyed.

With this reference to the value and method of producing the Sisal hempand Manilla fibres, let us ask the question—In what manner can the en-dogenous plants yielding foliaceous fibres become subservient as sources offuture wealth to the United States? The question may be answered as follows :Southern and Central America, with the adjacent islands, is the natural habitatof a great majority of the orders and species of endogenous plants, which yieldvaluable fibres. We have here the Agaves, the Palms, the Bananas, the PineApple, and the Yuccas. They are all hardy, productive, perennial plants, whichPropagate themselves spontaneously upon the worst natural soil, and become in-finitely productive when aided by the least skill, care, or labor of man. All ofthem can be gradually acclimated and profitably propagated in the most sterilodistricts of the Southern States. Their introduction and cultivation will bo equi-valent therefore to the direct addition of absolute fertility to the most sandy,sterile, and worn-out districts; and we run no risk in the assertion, that foliaceous®bres may be more profitably produced on the poor lands of Georgia, Florida,and the Carolinas, than cortical and capsular fibres can be in the virgin loams ofOhio and Mississippi. As regards their introduction, the work is already accom-dlished, and the experiment tried. Some of the fibrous-leaved plants are natives,and are found as far north as Vii’ginia, as the five species of Yucca, and some va-rieties of the Agave (Agave Virgmica ), Palm and Banana; others harm beenbrought from abroad, and are now acclimated, as the Phormium Tenax, or NewZealand Flax Lily, which now grows spontaneously in various parts of the South.

And here let us notice the most important stop which has thus far been takenin regard to this matter, and at the same time do honor to the memory of a wise,sagacious, patriotic man, who sacrificed his life in the attempt to confer a greatnational benefit upon his country ; wo refer to the late Dr. Henry Perrine. Thisgentleman, in the course of along residence as United States Consul in the Stateof Tobasco, and at Campeachy, became thoroughly acquainted with the severalvarieties of fibrous-leaved plants growing in these districts, together with theirmanner of growth, cultivation, and the means employed for the extraction andpreparation of the fibres; being impressed also with the great importance andbenefit of introducing these plants into the United States, and having satisfiedhimself of the practicability of the enterprise, I)r. Perrine in 1837 petitionedCongress to aid in carrying out the attempt upon an extensive scale. The subjectwas referred to tho Committee on Agriculture, who reported a bill granting toDr. Perrine and his associates under the name of the “ Tropical Plant Company,”the pre-emption rights to thirty-six sections of land, situated in East Florida, belowthe parallel of 20 N. L. The bill received tho almost unanimous consent ofCongress, and Dr. Perrine immediately entered upon the work. A small planta-tation was formed at Capo Florida and other points in the vicinity, and a varietyof plants brought from Central America , wore introduced. Among these werothree or four species of tho Agave, including the varieties producing the Sisal hemp,the Pulque Agave, tho Cochineal Cactus, the Arnotto plant, the Date palm, PaperMulberry, and Tumorie. All these succeeded well, and every thing at tho in-ception promised tho happiest results, when the hostilities of the Indians, conse-quent to the Seminole war, compelled tho abandonment of tho plantations. Dr.Perrine, however, whoso whole soul was devoted to tho enterprise, returned afteran interval, and was subsequently killed by the savages in tho vicinity. Sincethis period wo do not understand that any further attempts have been made tocarry out tho enterprise. Tho plants, although neglected, have flourished, andpropagated themselves extensively. Tho agaves, especially, have become dissemi-nated throughout tho whole of tho neighboring country, and on some of theislands in the vicinity of Ivey West they may bo found in great luxuriance.

Tho first groat step, therefore, tho introduction of tho plants into the UnitedStates has been accomplished successfully; and tho field is now open for furtherefforts, which, if properly made, must be crowned with success.

One great difficulty experienced in Yucatan, has been the want of a proper ma-chine for suitably cleaning out the fibres from their enveloping vegetable tissues ;the rude method followed by the natives being too slow and expensive. An Indianwith his sharp stick only, and indolent habits, will generally clean from four toeight pounds per diem. A few years since a machine was invented in Massachu-setts for the purpose of cleaning the fibres, and sent out to Merida by a Bostonfirm having largo commercial dealings at that port. Tho machine is understood tohave worked well, but tho vegetable acid generated by tho fermentation of thoexpressed juice of the leaves, corroded the metallic parts of the machine it wasbrought in contact with, to such an extent ns to render them useless. The planwas consequently abandoned. "Within tho past year a chemical process has beendiscovered, which dissolves tho green fleshy part of tho leaves, while the fibresremain intact, and after washing are ready for use. This process, which is ex-ceedingly cheap and simple, is controlled by a Massachusetts company who intendto put it into operation.

Tho introduction of tho fibrons-leavod plants into tho Southern States, fromtheir adaption to sterile soils, ease of cultivation, abundant reproduction, and longduration, must prove of incalculable importance. With the fibres of one exoticvcgetablo the Southern States are now supplying materials for tho clothing of alarge proportion of tho human family; with tho fibres of other exotic plantsthey may hereafter supply materials for thread, twine, cordage, cambric, and can-vas to ail almost equal extent.

EAST INDIA TROPICAL FIBRES.

A MONG the valuablo fibres imported from tho East Indies, besides tho ManillaLA- hemp, already referred to, are tho “ Sun hemp,” and tho varieties of jnte,The former is the prepared fibre of tho bark of tho Grotalaria juneea, a wellknown Indian plant. Its cost in India is not far from fifty to sixty dollars per ton,when properly cleaned and dressed. This fibre is almost universally employedover nearly tho whole of Southern Asia, as the material for cordage, especially forcoarse balc-ropo. Tho Sun grows in tho greatest abundance in Bengal, one varietyattaining tho height of twelve or fourteen feet, whilo the more common kindvaries from six to eight feet in height. An aero of the plants is estimated ascapable of yielding about GOO lbs. of cleaned fibre. The fibre of the Sun islonger, somewhat coarser than American dew rotted hemp. The mode of sep-arating the fibre is extremely simple, as are all mechanical operations in India.When the seed vessels have nearly attained their full size, the plants are cut, tiedin bundles, and steeped in water for two or three days; then taken out, and tho