Lesson 58 Kinds of Bass

When we were talking about bass the other day, said Fred, "there was not time to say all I wanted to say about it. Let us start again now."

Take a piece of the bass, Norah, and try to break it by pulling it. You cannot do so. You find it very tough and strong. It is for this reason, and also because it is very pliant, and can be easily bent or twisted, that bass is so useful.

The bass of the bass-wood is used for making ropes, mats, shoes, hats, and other things. You know, too, how useful the bass matting is in the garden for tying-up purposes and for covering plants in the winter time.

Teacher says much of the bast of commerce comes from Russia.

Although, properly speaking, the name bass is confined to the inner bark of the bass-wood, we commonly apply the name to the inner bark of many other plants.

Do you know what my white collar is made of, Norah?

It is made of linen, she replied.

Quite right, said Fred, "but what is linen?"

Linen comes from the flax plant.

Yes, but what part of the plant gives us this linen? I don't think you can tell. It comes from the stem. It is made from the bass—or bast—fibers of the inner bark.

The Latin name for flax, he continued, "is linum. Here are some of the flax seeds. We call them linseed. The cloth we make from the bast fibers we call linen."

Rope, twine, and cordage of every kind, canvas, sail-cloth, and sacking are all made from the bast fibers in the inner bark of another plant, something like the flax, said Willie. "This is the hemp plant. It is grown in many parts of the world, and is not unlike the common nettle in appearance. You know you give hemp seed to the thrush and blackbird, Norah."

Teacher showed us some other bast fibers called jute, said Fred. "This, like the flax and hemp, comes from the stem of the plant. It is the inner bark of the stem. Jute is not so tough and strong as flax or hemp, but it has a smooth, glossy appearance. It is largely used because it is cheap and easily worked. It is often mixed with flax and hemp to make certain kinds of goods."

SUMMARY

The inner bark of the bass-wood yields bass or liber. The inner bark of the flax-plant yields material for making linen. Canvas, rope, and cordage are made from the inner bark of the hemp-plant. Jute is the inner bark of a plant and is used for many purposes.