Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

ESPARTO, or SPANISH GRASS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 773 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

ESPARTO, or See also:SPANISH GRASS , Stipa tenacissima, a grass resembling the ornamental See also:feather-grass of gardens. It is indigenous to the See also:south of See also:Spain and the See also:north of See also:Africa (where it is known as Halfa or Alfa), and is especially abundant in the sterile and rugged parts of See also:Murcia and See also:Valencia, and in See also:Algeria, flourishing best in sandy, ferruginous soils, in dry, sunny situations on the See also:sea See also:coast. See also:Pliny (V.H. xix. 2) described what appears to have been the same plant under the name of spartum, whence the designation campus spartarius for the region surrounding New See also:Carthage. It attains a height of 3 or 4 ft. The stems are cylindrical, and clothed with See also:short See also:hair, and grow in clusters of from 2 to 10 ft. in circumference; when See also:young they serve as See also:food for See also:cattle, but after a few years' growth acquire See also:great toughness of texture. The leaves vary from 6 in. to 3 ft. in length, and are See also:grey-See also:green in See also:colour; on See also:account of their tenacity of fibre and flexibility they have for centuries been employed for the making of See also:ropes, sandals, baskets, mats and other articles. See also:Ships' cables of esparto, being See also:light, have the quality of floating on See also:water, and have See also:long been in use in the Spanish See also:navy. Esparto leaves contain 56% by See also:weight of fibre, or about 1o% more than See also:straw, and hence have come into requisition See also:asa substitute for See also:linen rags in the manufacture of See also:paper. For this purpose they were first utilized by the See also:French, and in 1857 were introduced into Great See also:Britain. When required for paper-making the leaves should be gathered before they are quite matured; if, however, they are obtained too young, they furnish a paper having an objectionable semi-transparent See also:appearance. The leaves are gathered by See also:hand, and from 2 to 3 cwt. may be collected in a See also:day by a single labourer.

They are generally obtained during the dry summer months, as at other times their adherence to the stems is so See also:

firm as often to cause the uprooting of the See also:plants in the See also:attempt to remove them. Esparto may be raised from See also:seed, but cannot be harvested for twelve or fifteen years after See also:sowing. Another grass, Lygeum Spartum, with stiff See also:rush-like leaves, growing in rocky See also:soil on the high plains of countries bordering on the Mediterranean, especially of Spain and Algeria, is also a source of esparto. For the processes of the paper manufacturer esparto is used in the dry See also:state, and without cutting; roots and See also:flowers and stray weeds are first removed, and the material is then boiled with See also:caustic soda, washed, and bleached with See also:chlorine See also:solution. Sundry experiments have been made to adapt esparto for use in the coarser textile fabrics. Messrs A. Edger and B. See also:Proctor in 1877 directed See also:attention to the See also:composition of the slag resulting from the burning of esparto, which they found to be strikingly similar to that of See also:average medical See also:bottle See also:glass, the latter yielding on See also:analysis 66.3% of See also:silica and 25.1% of alkalies and alkaline earths, and the slag 64.6 and 27.45 % of the same respectively.

End of Article: ESPARTO, or SPANISH GRASS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ESPARTERO, BALDOMERO (1792-1879) 		[next]
ESPERANCE

Site © 2006 - Net Industries