Class, Hexandria:—Order, Monogynia.
The only uses to which at the present time this plant is put, are the following. Its spungy pith possesses the property of burning gently without extinguishing; the peasants therefore are in the habit of putting some of it into their fires when they wish to prevent them from going out for a considerable time. Hedges are made of it, by planting the bulbs or tender shoots; these easily take root and grow. Piso says, “ex foliis hujus plantæ optimus pannus conficitur, qui si rite præparetur, panno lineo excedit; folia stupam quoque et filosam materiam suppeditant, ex qua fila et retia sua contexunt piscatores.” From hence it may be inferred that the Dutch knew better than we do how to take advantage of the natural productions of the country. At the present time even the fishermen do not make use of its fibre for their lines and nets, substituting in place of it the crauata de rede. The only use to which the Portugueze apply the fibre of the agave, is in making the cords, which the friars of the Third Order of St. Francis, commonly called of Jesus, wear round their waists.
The fibre is to be obtained by maceration, but the leaves must in the first instance be bruised, and afterwards steeped.[267]
Coqueiro, Cocos Nucifera—Lin. Syst. Veget.
The oil which is obtained from the pulp of the fruit is easily separated from the mucilage by means of fire; thirty-two cocos rendered me 17 lbs. of oily pulp, and these gave me three pounds of pure oil. It is fitted to other purposes besides that of food, for it serves to give light; and mixed with soda it yields good soap, white and hard. One hundred cocos give one canada of oil of the canadas of Pernambuco. So that each coco costing 10 reis, a canada may be obtained for 1280 reis, or 7s. 1¼d.
From the fibre of the outward rind of the coco, which is called cairo, may be made all kinds of cordage; even cables are manufactured from it.
The only means by which the fibre of the coco rind can be obtained, are by beating and maceration; before the rind is put into water to steep, it ought to be beaten for the purpose of loosening its texture, principally that of the outward surface, which is hard and compact; and this should be done that the water may penetrate with more ease. After the first operation, it must be left to steep for two or three days, and then should be beaten; and this should be continued until the separation is accomplished; great care, however, should be taken that the rind of the coco be not allowed to dry. Because I have observed, that if this occurs, the ligneous fecula or spongy pulp, which is found intermixed with the fibres, adheres still more strongly to them. I have likewise remarked, that from the rind which has been recently taken from the coco, the fibre is much more easily extracted than from that which has been along time separated from it.[268]
The rind of 40 cocos rendered me 6lbs. of cairo. The annual produce of the coco groves of Itamaraca is 360,000 cocos, more or less; and according to calculation these are capable of yielding 1680 arrobas of prepared cairo. The island of Itamaraca is three leagues in length, and the coast is alone planted with coco trees, and if these are thus productive what might not the coco groves yield, which extend along the coast from the river St. Francisco to the bar of Mamanguape, a distance of 94 leagues all cultivated with coco trees?[269]
Aninga, Arum liniferum:—Arrud. Cent. Plant. Pern.
Class, Monoecia. Order, Polyandria.[270]