Pine-apple fibre

po-lo ma IMG:p450_2.png:Chinese characters is obained from the leaves of Bromelia jjenguin, which is extensively cultivated in Hainan, under tropical conditions, particularly on the east coast; also on the Leichow Peninsula on the mainland opposite. It is grown as a hedge plant and also in parallel rows in fields. At the end of their first year the trees produce leaves capable of being decorticated for fibre, but it is' usual to wait till the second year, when longer leaves are obtainable, which give a better yield of fibre. About a dozen leaves are taken from each plant, and are scraped both above and below until the green ti ue has been removed, revealing a skein of yellowish fibres, which is soaked in cold water for six hours, and then dried in the sun. This alternate washing and drying continues for three days, until the fibre has become sufficiently bleached and all non-fibrous ti ue has been removed. The material thus prepared is next combed in order to reduce it to regular filaments of the required finene , after which it is made into threads for weaving. The combings are said to give excellent results for paper making. The fibre itself is of fine quality and great strength, suitable for textile purposes, but the time and labour involved in extracting it have hitherto restricted its use. In Hainan this fibre is made into a very fine gra -cloth, and it is also sent for manufacture to Swatow. The average annual exportation is between 3,500 and 4,000 piculs of fibre, worth about Hk.Tls. 3.3 per picul. The gra -cloth is worth about Hk.Tls. 150 per picul, or nearly double the value of ramie gra -cloth exported from the Yangtze ports.