Mexican Textile Plants.

Manawatu Herald, 11 October 1892, Page 3

Mexican Textile Plants.

'«*&Vas and it is also employed to niakt carpets, hammocks, brushes, &c.,,. TJie.iui.mense development of th-iiinaustry-has caused the establishment of several railways, notably that of Merida to the port, of Progroso. This line, which Was the only one in the country, not being enough to carry the product, it was necessary to establish another line. (To be continued.)

Frequent applications :.,jt'o,. .! the Agent General, for the time; being, iin London, has not been very sue? ■cessful in extracting much, information about competing fibres with our N.Z. hemp» so that we think ths following . r account .^f ,,tb,e 7 , Textile plants of Mexico, obtained frp;ni a late American exchange will ue read with much interest

• Mexico^ above air r^gipft'g fa the „,,e arth, fe suitable to tha deye) : o£inent' oftex.fciU plants. They are found »« eyer /-where va.a wild state, but .little aiif^but pobrly'exploited, but furnish, hf jwever, worßiqran important per- . c^ntage of tfrer Indian class. In no place haypf tbege plants been the objeGt.^^o,if^ serioW .attempts at cul^vg,ti^jii Mch.oiagh r theyjiave been a sdar^jdf-br^iant^prpfits, Among. theM-^o ; d)[)| berplAdedin the first : HEshs^sms, p^i sisal. TSene^^ip6|ion^f all the textile 'plants wiiicH:i.bdtthd in is the one which is *he most ; earnestly ••.ejijj'ii^ naLidi^^tha^gjainbiila ; bf ?Fploatan , <$ wMoit^bir Mde f Hhe^rWne, a jQd apeare to have been oredted es. "pecjialty fpri;^bat, des^ate. jpountry, before having, undertaken culture on any scale, was oonside.red as the most' worthless di9triot of ithe republic, fit only to reoeive exiled dbiividts; The Heneqiien of Yucatan — •wHioh f .bytbe way, must not* be ..qpnfoun^ed,. with ;^the, plant , oi the 'aSme'name wHfcii grows at Manila anc^ which is of another famjly— .specially grows on stony ground,, and on-xocks. It is' even ' claimed* that it draws all its hqurish- : Jment.from the atmosphere arid , that . its roots serve only to fix it to 'the soil, from which it draws no nourish- . I /mentis 'The -Henequen is produced by^drageons. 'io It' received two culti- ; vationsthe first year and another ! - each 'successive year. It arrives; at its conlplete development at the end , ;of four years. At ;the end of this time there is annually out a certain

nunxber of leaves. The duration of

the Wploitatjopof the plant averages „; six^to eight years, and .sometimes extends as long aa fifteen to twenty • ri years. ' Its fibre is very fine; finer '; jfc'hah' that '^f liemp,''4bes hot harden " under tj£e. influence of moisture, ,nor _ t «\fenßtiffen J: ynd^r the- lowest temperatures Jandrdoeß not call for the •are neoessary to be bestowed on flax ftndhejap. The cultivation of- this plant is increasing without ceasing 'In" Yucatan. It occupies the first place in the. agricultural products. In*l#B4 its production was $4,O00,»

000 and it has been steadily rising t ever gince. The price has risen from $4 in 1886 to about $15 at present cv-S^ft » re Uni»ense profits obtainable

t , n ;fcom its oultiyation. v „..-. .»[ *■; V Henequen ■ commenced to be

serioutly worked in Yucatan in 1860, jv^before which it was- exported* only, k .: manufactured in the shape of ; bam-' •* vt nfocksf ropes, &c, the whiteness'an'd suppleness of which articles attracted the attention of foreign merchants. The' United States commenced to

impori th£ 'ifaw'- material] and the-, .i.jjagrioulturists of Yucatan were; tbere*jl|o|ftforced, to, make their* -products known to European markets. > They ,/ Jl sucoe.eded;SO;well that the production which, in 1860, was only, $2,-

800,000, attained in 1888 the sum of — -tfcoirirf 7;ooo;ooo. Industry trahs-

forms the Henequen plant into * <«cordage ifor. marine purposes. 'In • ; combination 'with cotton and other 1 texiile» it serves to make coarse