The bast for foreign con sumption is made into mats, which generally measure about 6 ft. by 3 ft. 6 in.
These are used especially for packing large objects, as machinery and furniture ; and immense quantities are consumed by gardeners.
The annual production of these mate in Russia is estimated at about 14 mil lions, f of which is exported.
The fibre is also converted into pit-ropes and clothes lines in France, and fishing nets in Sweden, for which purposes its durability eminently fits it. It would doubtless yield excel lent paper. Revel, in 1879, exported 15,200 pieces of mat-bags to England. The great local con sumption of the bast is for shoemaking ; in the governments of Nijni Novgorod, Wiatka, Kostroma, and Minsk, the manufacture amounts to about 7 million pair annually. The useful bast of T. pauciflora, T. parviflora, T. vulgare, T. platyfolia, and T. angustzfolia are employed in Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, more particularly in S. Russia, and T. cordata in Japan.
Tillandsia Moss or Vegetable epiphyte, found attached to several kinds of trees in the United States, S. America, and W. Indies. The largest and most tenacious is gathered from the cypress. The stripping is done by negroes, at intervals of 7 years on the same tree. When gathered, the " moss " is placed in a sunny spot, and left exposed to wind and weather for a month. The greyish bark then peels off, leaving the fibre almost clean. It is baled, and taken to factories, to be cleaned. It is first washed in boiling water with soap ; then hung out on racks to dry ; and finally dusted in a fan-mill. The best qualities can hardly be distinguished from horse-hair. All are used for stuffing purposes. New Orleans is the centre of the industry.
Touchardia A shrub, allied to Bcehmcria nivea, found in the Hawaian Islands, and yielding a tough and easily separable fibre.
Triodia! [Festuca] A brittle grass, abundant in waste tracts in Australia, and might be used for paper-making.
Tritoma sp. T. uvaria and T. recurvata are utilized as fibre-plants at the Cape of Good Hope. The leaves are crushed, and digested in hot water ; the fibres separate in about 12 hours. The plants were introduced into Victoria in 1876.
Typha elephantina—Elephant-grass.—Endogen ; grass, ft. This species and T. augustifolia, both natives of India, aro used for making mats.
Urena sp. Species of this genus are found in the intratropical girdle around the globe. U. lobata is a common shrub in India, and is generally found in waste places during the rains. It abounds in strong fibre, which is considered suitable for the manufacture of sacking and twine. Slips of sized paper, weighing 39 gr., made from this fibre sustained 75 lb., as against Bank of England note pulp, 47 lb. ; it was said to bear ink well, but to work " woody " and "hairy." U. sinuata occurs in Bengal, and probably differs but little from the preceding.
Urtica sp. (Fa., Ortie ; Gan., Nessel).—Exogen. Of the European members of this genus, U. dioica, U. pilulifera, and U. areas, the first only seems to deserve any attention. The wide distribution and hardy nature of the common nettle (U. dioica) are well known. Its culti vation as a fibrous plant has been experimentally conducted at Stralau, near Berlin, with the result of obtaining stems 3-5 ft. high, without manuring or weeding. Hopes are entertained of a double crop annually. The plants are liable to the attacks of a caterpillar. A section of the stem of the plant is shown in Fig. 704 : a, bark ; b, lignose; e, epidermis; f, bast fibres, coloured deep blue by test H ; mag. 100. The fibres, when extracted from the plant by retting, are soft, very supple, long, of eonsiderable strength, lus trous, and white. Treated liko hemp, they have recently been con verted into textile fabrics, which were declared equal to linen. Paper made from them has attracted much attention.
U. (Oirardinia) heterophylla, the Noilgherry nettle, or " vegetable wool," is a native of Concan, Coro mandel, Prome, Zoongdung, Nepal, Assam, and Burma. It succeeds well by eultivation. The bark abounds in fine, white, glossy, strong fibres, which have a rougher surface than those of Bwhmeria raven, and are therefore more easily combined with wool in mixed fabrics. The natives subject the stems to a ratting process for 10-12 days, by which they are so softened that the outer fibrous portion is easily peeled off. The tow of this fibre is especially valuable. Samples of the fibre exposed for 2 hours to steam at 2 atmos., then boiled for 3 hours, and again steamed for 4 hours, lost only 2.85 per cent. by m eight, as compared with Manilla hemp, per cent.