noun
definition
Either of two species of perennial grasses used for fibre production, and for making paper:
Examples of esparto in a Sentence
Local industries include the manufacture of coarse cloth, esparto fabrics, oil and flour.
Among later residents commemorated is Edward Lloyd, who was the first person to show the value of esparto grass for the manufacture of paper, and thus started an industry which is one of the most important in Algeria.
The district is famous for its melons, and also produces wine, olives, wheat and esparto grass.
From Cartagena the principal exports are metallic ores, esparto grass, wine, cereals and fruit.
Esparto grass, which grows freely in the vicinity, is the spartum, or Spanish broom, which gave the town its Roman designation of Carthago Spartaria.
Here we find open plant associations of Haifa or Esparto Grass (Stipa lenacissima) alternating with steppes of Chih (Artemisia herba-alba); and each plant association extends for several scores of miles.
Other thriving local industries include the manufacture of oil, soap, flour, leather, alcohol and esparto grass rugs.
Grapes, barley, esparto grass, dry figs, almonds and zinc are exported.
These central uplands of Tunisia in an uncultivated state are covered with alfa or esparto grass; but they also grow considerable amounts of cereals - wheat in the north, barley in the south.
Other towns of Tunisia are, on the east coast, Nabeul, pop. about 5000, the ancient Neapolis, noted for the mildness of its climate and its pottery manufactures; Hammamet with 37 00 inhabitants; Monastir (the Ruspina of the Romans), a walled town with 5600 inhabitants and a trade in cereals and oils; Mandiya or Mandia (q.v.; in ancient chronicles called the city of Africa and sometimes the capital of the country) with 8500 inhabitants, the fallen city of the Fatimites, which since the French occupation has risen from its ruins, and has a new harbour (the ancient Cothon or harbour, of Phoenician origin, cut out of the rock is nearly dry but in excellent preservation); and Gabes (Tacape of the Romans, Qabis of the Arabs) on the Syrtis, a group of small villages, with an aggregate population of 16,000, the port of the Shat country and a depot of the esparto trade.
The principal exports are olive oil, wheat, esparto grass, barley, sponges, dates, fish (especially tunny), hides, horses, wool, phosphates, copper, zinc and lead.
It is the chief town of a wide district exporting olive oil, esparto', corn and flour, wools and Algerian onyx; and has a population of (1906) 24,060.
The prosperity of the town is largely due to the export trade in phosphates, esparto grass, oil, almonds, pistachio nuts, sponges, wool, &c. There is in the Gulf of Gabes a rise and fall of 5 ft.
It imports general merchandise and manufactures, and exports phosphates, iron, zinc, barley, sheep, wool, cork, esparto, &c. There are manufactories of native garments, tapestry and leather.
The local trade is chiefly in coarse cloth, esparto fabrics, wine and farm produce.
Ships' cables of esparto, being light, have the quality of floating on water, and have long been in use in the Spanish navy.
Esparto leaves contain 56% by weight of fibre, or about ro% more than straw, and hence have come into requisition as a substitute for linen rags in the manufacture of paper.
Esparto may be raised from seed, but cannot be harvested for twelve or fifteen years after sowing.
Another grass, Lygeum Spartum, with stiff rush-like leaves, growing in rocky 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 state, and without cutting; roots and flowers and stray weeds are first removed, and the material is then boiled with caustic soda, washed, and bleached with chlorine solution.
Sundry experiments have been made to adapt esparto for use in the coarser textile fabrics.
Proctor in 1877 directed attention to the composition of the slag resulting from the burning of esparto, which they found to be strikingly similar to that of average medical bottle glass, the latter yielding on analysis 66.3% of silica and 25.1% of alkalies and alkaline.
Behind the Tell is a lofty table-land with an average elevation of 3000 ft., consisting of vast plains, for the most part arid or covered with esparto grass, in the depressions of which are great salt lakes and swamps (Arabic, shats) fed by streams which can find no outlet to the sea through the encircling hills.
The flora of the high plateaus consists chiefly of grasses, notably various kinds of alfa or esparto, and aromatic herbs.
The chief exports are sheep and oxen, most of which are raised in Morocco and Tunisia, and horses; animal products, such as wool and skins; wine, cereals (rye, barley, oats), vegetables, fruits (chiefly figs and grapes for the table) and seeds, esparto grass, oils and vegetable extracts (chiefly olive oil), iron ore, zinc, natural phosphates, timber, cork, crin vegetal and tobacco.
In the Sud Oranais an insurrection, fomented by a marabout named Bu-Amama, broke out in 1881, and the insurgents massacred the European labourers engaged in the collection of alfa (or esparto) grass.
The dwarf-palm, orange, lime, and olive grow in the warmer tracts; and on the higher grounds the thorn-apple, pomegranate, myrtle, esparto and heaths flourish.
Besides lead, the exports include grapes, sugar and esparto.
Coal and coke are largely exported, and corn, timber and esparto grass are imported.
Lead is obtained among the mountains, and the more sheltered valleys produce grain, wine, oil, fruit and esparto grass.
Yecla has a thriving trade in the grain, wine, oil, fruit and esparto grass produced in the surrounding country.
Esparto grass, rice, olives, the sugar-cane, and tropical fruits and vegetables are largely produced.
The export trade is chiefly in esparto grass, cereals, wines, olive oil, marbles, cattle and hides.
It is the chief outlet for the Spanish trade in esparto grass, and for the iron ore and other mineral products of the neighbourhood.
The exports are minerals, esparto, oil, grain, grapes and farm produce generally.
About 1400 ships, of nearly i,000,000 tons, enter the port every year, bringing fuel and timber, and taking cargoes of iron, lead, esparto and fruit.
Lygeum Spartum, with a creeping stem and stiff rushlike leaves, is common on rocky soil on the high plains bordering the western Mediterranean, and is one of the sources of esparto.
A different aspect is presented by the grass steppes of Murcia, La Mancha, the plateaus of Guadix and Huescar in the province of Granada, &c., all of which are covered chiefly with the valuable esparto grass (Macrochloa tenacissinla).
In most cases such wheels merely have earthenware pitchers attached to their circumference by means of wisps of esparto, and are turned by a horse harnessed to a long arm fitted to a revolving shaft.
The esparto is twisted into cords and ropes and the staple matting so common on the floors of Spanish houses of all classes, the estera.
Cieza is built in a narrow bend of the Segura valley, which is enclosed on the north by mountains, and on the south broadens into a fertile plain, producing grain, wine, olives, raisins, oranges and esparto grass.