NEW COTTON DISCOVERY

Patea Mail, Volume XLIX, 21 November 1928, Page 2

NEW COTTON DISCOVERY

PLANT YIELDS VALUABLE I’IBIiJ

Li’s COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT

An important development of tin Lancashire cotton trade is expected a>. iLe result of cultivation on a commercial basis of a new artificial cotton fibre product. The valuable qualities of the-new plant weie discovered h\ two English scientists who, in South America, wore attracted by the singular construction of a certain bird’s nest. They watched the bird collect what appeared to be a common weed, soak it in a poo] of waiter ami weave it with its beak.

Tests showed the plant to contain an iron compound, and the scientists, after eight years' experiments, have succeeded in producing it on marketable lines. Between throe and four million pounds of this artificial cotton tire notv being grown in Essex and Sussex, to be available in July next to cotton spinners at a fixed price o' (>d per pound, representing an immediate saving of at least 4d per pound on what they tiro now paying. Weaving houses in the North and the Midlands arc reported to have, tested the new product, and are satisfied, it possesses a soft and lasting sheen ami lustre. It is claimed that the low price is possible owing to the many valuable by-products that arc 1 obtained, including parchment, light building material, and a drug from the stems, leaves and roots of the plant. A corporation has been formed to market the product.