Van Buren Machine

In 1889 Edmund R. Van Buren of Jacksonville, Florida, filed a patent for his "Machine for decorticating fibrous plants." This machine, also called the Van Buren Tropical Fiber Machine, was used in experiments in the early 1890s by Charles Richards Dodge of the United States Department of Agriculture. Dodge experimented mostly with sisal hemp, using the Van Buren machine to decorticate leaves of sisal hemp to produce clean fibers.

Sources:

• Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. "Report of the Special Agent in Charge of the Fiber Investigations, 1891." United States. Dept. of Agriculture. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1892.
• 1890 patent for Van Buren's Machine for decorticating fibrous plants

References in the Texts:

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• April 9, Saturday

For other topics referenced in the Expedition texts, please refer to the Index to Subjects and Names.
1892 Everglades Exploration Expedition : Three Digital Texts, 2015