THE VEGETABLE FIBRES OF THE FIJI ISLANDS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4145, 3 July 1874, Page 3

THE VEGETABLE FIBRES OF THE FIJI ISLANDS.

An interesting paper on the vegetable fibres of the Fiji Islands, by Mr. Charles J. Pownall, of Wellington, has been placed at our disposal. The subject of utilising the vegetable products of the New Zealand and the South Sea Islands has engaged Mr. Pownall’s attention for some years, and his practical suggestions are likely to be of much service. In the paper referred to Mr Pownall writes ; Among the numerous products of these and the adjacent islands, which are now engrossing so much attention, there is none so likely to assume the same commercial importance as the development and manipulation of their valuable fibres. They offer an opportunity seldom occurring for those large and lucrative operations now entirely confined to the Philippine Islands ; combining as they do the same advantages of cheap coolie labor—so essential for carrying on an undertaking of this nature, and having markets for the produce opened out by the new mail route for both America and the Australian Colonies, or, with equal facility, shipping it to English or other ports. The most important among them is—first, the plaintain and the banana, yielding the fibre so well known to commerce as Manilla hemp; second, the pine-apple, usually described as silk grass ; third, the cocoannt, producing from its husk the coir fibre ; with all the varieties of the aloes, pines, &c. The preparation of this Manilla hemp is at present confined solely to the Philippine Islands, being exported from their chief port, Manilla, (hence its name) and the production it there has now reached large dimensions. In IS-13 their exports were 2500 tons ; in 1853 hese reached 20,000 tons, and at the present time they exceed 10,000 per annum of which the Americans are the largest consumers. Its value in the English market usually averages from £ls to £SO per ton for fair roping quality. The finer fibre taken from the heart of the plant is doubly valuable, both being obtained from its stem, cut down close to the ground. They are there principally cultivated, producing a crop every eight months after cutting down in that period, throwing up a new shoot or stem from twelve to fifteen feet high. The trade is reported to be a monopoly, and large fortunes have been and are now realised from it. The pine-apple produces a very valuable fibre. From its leaves, as they are now hand-dressed in India, are manufactured those fine muslins, &c., called “ piua.” It is very costly, as the difficulty of cleaning it mechanically has hitherto proved insurmountable. Similar in its nature to the phormium tenax of New Zealand, the leaf of it consists of two different structures, the upper side being of a soft pulpy nature, easy of removal, and the under of harder, or more ligneous character, very difficult to separate, these two external bodies holding the fibre between them. Such mechanical difficulties are now overcome. The cocoa-nut coir fibre is a well known valuable product, as are the other varieties of the aloes, pines, &c. These fibres abound all over the Fijis, more particularly the plantain and banana. Some specimens were dressed from them by Messrs. Mason Brothers of Gila Plantation, Taviuna, and forwarded to Melbourne and Sydney, where they were unanimously declared quite equal in quality to Manilla hemp, and £lO per ton was offered for them. Upon this plantation and the immediate vicinity, these gentlemen have now 70,000 banana stems ready for cutting, and they are aa richly distributed as the pine-apple throughout these and the surrounding islands. In the absence of machinery for cleaning this Manilla hemp in the Philippines, there can he no doubt tins prosperous trade is attributable to the cheap Coolie labor obtainable there ; for, as observed by the Mark Lane Express, “ The main difficulty of generally utilising many of these tropical fibres, and bringing them into universal use, is the great want of efficient machinery for cleaning them and gettin" rid of the gummy and other matters which surround them, without injury to the fibres. Such machinery is a desideratum of the age.” The hand system of cleaning now generally adopted is, first, to bruise and break up both sides of the leaf or pulp with a wooden mallet or club ; and, second, to scrape them upon a table, likewise on each side, with a wooden knife, or shell ; soaking in running water, thorough washing, then drying in the shade, completes the operation. Each laborer produces only a few pounds weight of clean fibre per diem, and the waste in tow is considerable. To effect this object mechanically was a work of much labor and perseverance, for it was absolutely necessary to follow out this hand system of scraping the fibre, as percussion or undue force could not be employed without injury to it, and it is for this reason that all the mechanical appliances hitherto invented, and their name is legion, have utterly failed. It was requisite likewise that a machine for such a purpose should not be limited in its operations to cleaning one particular class of fibre, but be capable of acting upon all the different varieties, whether of a hard or soft nature.

The machine that has now been completed and thoroughly tested for this purpose is of an entirely novel construction, and its perfection is the result of long application to this especial subject ; as will be readily understood from the following description. It will truly, but far more efficiently, imitate and effect the object desired of crushing and scraping every class of vegetable fibrous material perfectly clean, and without deterioration of any kind. The pine-apple leaf, or the pulp containing the fibres from the banana stem, being separated into suitable sized strips, first passes into two small but powerful fluted rollers, in which it is sufficiently crushed and broken up, in the transit through, to be prepared for the scraping process between the two cylinders into which it is immediately carried. These two cylinders, or drums, are connected together by spur wheels, revolve in the same direction, and are adjusted to scrape alternately both sides of the leaf, or pulp, in the following manner : At equal distances around both cylinders are securely and alternately fixed a number of steel scraping-knives and sustaining plates—or beds for the knives to scrape upon. All of these knives and sustaining-plates are supported by and work upon powerful steel springs of a peculiar construction, but exceedingly simple. Now, as they revolve together, the scraping-knife upon, say, No. 1 cylinder, is brought into contact with the sustaining-plate on, say, No. 2 cylinder, at about half-an-inch before they reach the periphery-line or circumference of the circle, and, yielding to the action of the double springs without percus- ' sion. Under their pressure, likewise, they remain in such firm contact until, as these cylinders continue to revolve, they have reached the similar space of half-an-inch on the other side of this periphery-line, and then separate. Thus, the leaf or pulp being at the time held firmly between the fluted rollers, is scraped on one side between the knife and sustainer for the space of about one inch. This action is then instantaneously reversed. The knife now upon, say, No. 2 cylinder, follows upon the sustainer of, say. No. 1 cylinder, scraping over the same space of about one nch, and finishing completely the other side of the leaf or pulp, and this operation thus alternately continues as the feeding-rollers supply the exact quantity the cylinders are calculated to clean. Adjusting-screws, acting directly upon the springs, cause the contact between the knives and sustainers to be made either with extreme lightness, or as powerfully as required, according to the soft or hard nature of the fibre to be Bcrapod. The machine, therefore, it will bo readily understood, is perfectly adapted for all the various kinds of vegetable fibres, whether hard or soft. The cylinders revolve slowly, making only 200 revolutions per minute, and require but one-and-a-third horse-driving power. The fluted-rollers feed into the machine 1000 inches, or 130 feet, per minute; cleaning therefore a large bulk per diem. The only aftermanipulation required, is thorough washing and drying as rapidly as possible. From two to three hours completes the operation, without waste or injury to the fibre. To clean soft pulpy matter, similar to the aloes or the stem of the banana, which contains the fibre enclosed

in it, mere contact of the scrapers and sustaiucra are necessary, with barely any deflection of the spring action. The pine-apple leaf, being of a much harder nature, requires greater pressure ; but, in this respect, no other species can compare with the phomiurn tenax, or New. Zealand flax, the fibre of which is by far the most difficult to extract from its gummy and resinous matters. Yet this machine, without any undue spring pressure, scrapes through this solid leaf perfectly, producing the fibre from it of double the value to that obtained under the beating or stripping process hitherto employed, as shown by the following report received :—“ I have (unites 1 Anglo-Australian ’) seen a specimen of phornium fibre, sent home by Mr. Charles J. Pownall, of Wellington, who, I understand, has invented a machine which . mechanically represents the hand scraping of the Maoris. As far as the small sample referred to enables practical men to judge, [Mr. Pownall appears to have been particularly successful in clearing the fibre, and in leaving upon it a gloss almost equal to the Maori dressed. Then, I have heard it remarked that, as the strength of the sample remains almost in its normal condition, if rope makers could obtain fibre equal to this, they would think more favorably of phormium for rope making than they have hitherto done. One of the samples seem soft enough and fine enough for manufacturers’ uses, but it is doubtful whether it would make a yarn sufficiently small for the finer kind of fabrics. It might, however, prove useful for mixing purposes. It is some comfort to know that Mr. Pownall has done so much. He seems to be on the right track, and we may yet be able to bring his machine to such a state of perfection as to produce a flax wdiich will meet all the requirements of the case.” The banana and plantain are the most prolific, and will therefore probably be the most lucrative of the Fiji fibres to manipulate. Machinery and cheap labor combined will produce this so-called Manilla hemp from them in these Islands at a cost not exceeding £ls per ton, and, if worked upon a large scale, considerably less. The foreign market value of it is from £4O to £SO per ton. As the banana yields more abundantly from the new shoot, the stems are cut down and left to rot upon the ground as soon as the fruit has ripened. No native difficulty as to supplying them will therefore occur. Plantations, however, could be made if necessary in the vicinity of the mill, competent authorities computing the crojr at two tons of clean fibre per annum. The experience of twenty-five years’ treatment of the world’s fibres enables me to arrive at this conclusion, that the favorable advantages these Fijis now offer for the manipulation of their various vegetable fibres are such as when compared with the lucrative trade of the Philippines can only lead to still greater financial results. It surely ought to be New Zealand’s interest to at once secure this large and valuable industry, in place of permitting it to pass into the hands of her sister Colonies.