Tropical Fibres: Their Production and Economic Extraction |
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Tropical Fibres: Their Production and Economic Extraction Ephraim George Squier No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
449 BROADWAY abaca abundant acres Agave Americana Agave Sisilana Asclepias Attalea funifera banana bark Bromelia sylvestris Calotropis gigantea Central America cheap cleaning the fibres cloth coarse cordage cortical fibres cotton Cuba cultivation dried durability East Indies endogenous plants excellent fibres Exhibition of 1851 extracting the fibres fabric feet fermentation fibrous plants flax flowers foliaceous fibres fruit grows gunny hackling hennequin Hibiscus cannabinus Hibiscus tiliaceus inches India indigenous Islands juice kinds of fibres leaf leaves Leguminosa LITH OF SARONY machine Maguey MAJOR & KNAPP Manilla hemp manufacture Mexicans Mexico Musa natives Nettle family obtained palm paper paper mulberry petioles pine-apple pita plantain plantain tree Plate produce fibres proper machinery pulp pulpy pulque quantity ropes scraping seeds shoots silk-grass Sisal hemp soil species stalks stem strength Tiliacea tropical America United Urtica varieties vegetable fibres washed woody Yashqui Yucatan YUCCA Zealand flax
Popular passages
Page 37 - The simplicity of its cultivation and the facility of extracting and preparing its products render it of universal use. From it is fabricated thread and cordage, mats, bagging, and clothing, and the hammocks in which the natives are born, repose, and die.
Page 19 - ... as soon as fermentation ; and while one part of a heap of leaves or stalks is beginning to ferment, other parts are brown and stained from putridity, while the central parts remain fresh and unaltered. To preserve the color and strength of fibres, all that is necessary is to separate the pulp, bark, or wood, as soon as possible and by the least complicated process. The pulp or juices of plants usually contain mucilage, starch, or gum, which begin to ferment within twentyfour hours after the plant...
Page 54 - Rheea," in Assam. Gradually increasing in commercial importance, this product only obtained the notice of the public, generally, at the London Exhibition of 1851, where it was presented in every condition, from the crude article to the woven fabric, showing a fibre of such beauty and strength that three prize medals were awarded to different persons for specimens in the prepared state. Samples of these, now in the collection of the United States Patent Office, I have submitted to examination, the...
Page 38 - In a wild state its thorns are very numerous, but by cultivation they are diminished both in size and number, and in many instances there are none at all. Even with the imperfect instruments used in cleaning the leaves, four and five pounds of fibre per day is only a fair average for the labor of a man.
Page 43 - ... eleventh months. When the stalk is cut, the fruit of which has ripened, a sprout is put forth, which again bears fruit in three months. The whole...
Page 19 - This is followed by putrefaction, which stains the fibre, and makes it brownish, and brittle like chaff. If the plant be exposed to the sun for a day or two after being cut, the sap dries, and the coloring matter stains the fibre, which cannot then be easily separated from the bark, spiral cells, nor woody fibre.
Page 34 - Its flowering stem, when the plant is vigorous, rises to the height of 40 feet or upwards, and throws out branches on every side, like those of a candelasbrum, so as to form u kind of pyramid, each branch supporting a cluster of greenish-red flowers.
Page 19 - ... board, with an old blunt table-knife, or a long piece of hoop-iron, fastened into a straight handle. When all impurities are removed, the fibres may be soaked for an hour or two in clean water, and then hung up in the shade to dry. Exposure to the sun at first is apt to discolor them. By this simple process fibres of great strength, of a silky appearance, and of a good color, can readily be prepared.
Page 38 - ... extracting and preparing its products render it of universal use. From it is fabricated thread and cordage, mats, bagging, and clothing, and the hammocks in which the natives are born, repose, and die. The fibres of the pita are sometimes employed in the manufacture of paper; its juice is used as a caustic for wounds, and its thorns serve the Indians for needles and pins.
Page 46 - I had a number of shirts made from this muslin, which lasted me a very long time, and were cool and agreeable in the use. But it is especially in France that tissues of this material are best made and of greatest beauty.