REPORT OF MR. KNIGHT.
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was, however, T$ut little inducement to participate in an exhibition that promised no immediate substantial returns.
This branch of the United States department was too meagre, and too mean, to reflect any credit upon the country, and could only tend to convey a false impression concerning its advancement in textile industry.
The exhibits of the raw textile materials were numerous, including some that are little known in this country, and but little used elsewhere.
Much interest was expressed in the fibres of certain plants exhibited by Dr. Collyer in the United States department, which are said to have been cultivated with success in various countries during the last few years. In the Brazilian department there was a long fibrous textile product, extracted from the stems of a bulbous plant, resembling mohair ; also fibres from Tucum, in various degrees of treatment, some of which were similar to sheep’s wool.
The United States exhibited a large collection of cotton, including beautiful samples of the Sea Island, and there w 7 as cotton from China, Eg} r pt, Syria, Southern Russia, Algeria, Central America, and several other countries.
It was thought that the exhibits of cotton from Egypt, Russia and Algeria, furnished evidence of progress in the cotton- culture of those countries.
The flax culture was largely represented by Germany, Austria and Great Britain.
The culture of hemp was best represented by Russia,—a country that is endeavoring to produce all raw textile mate- nals for weaving.
Jute was prominently represented, and has become an important material for yarns, being extensively used in carpet-weaving as a substitute for hemp. It is being applied to uew purposes, as was shown iu the Austrian, German, Dutch, -Belgian, French and English departments.
There were exhibitions of wool of every description, from a h countries ; also goat’s hair from various countries.
There were collections of silk, in all its varieties, from all silk-growing countries, making a very instructive exhibition. So well was this material represented, that one could there !earn more about its quality and treatment than could be
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