OTHER VEGETABLE FIBRES. 45 



No. 1 1. This Agava is of flow growth; on that account I Agava Amcri- 

 tloutit if ever it can be advantageoutly cultivated ; but, w^^f'^gr^t'pKM^c. 

 found wild in plenty, it may be manufadiired at a trifling ejt- 

 penfe. Its great ftrength renders it an objedl worthy of atten- 

 tion. The fibres are coarfe, confequently rope made of them 

 hardi to ti^e feel. 



Ko. 12. Drawings, and a defcnption of the plant Alelris Aletrls nervofos* 

 Nervofus Roxb. the method of extrading the fibres, with a 

 quantity of the fubftance itfelF, were fent to thfe Hon, the 

 Court of Diredors, through the Madras Government, abovie 

 ten years paft. I aifo gave alar^e quantity to Mr. Bebb, w^hen 

 he left Bengal in January, 1 800, to take to England with hirti 

 for trial there. The plant grows fully as Well, and is^s conor- 

 mon as on the Goromandel coaft. There h^s lately been aboUt ^ 



a biggah {third of an acre) planted out with it in the Botanic 

 garden, the belter to determine the expenfe, and the annual 

 produce of any given quantity of ground. 



No. 13. This plant, a native of various parts of India, New Abromaaa* 

 South Wales, Philippine Iflands, &c. has been lonjr known to*" » 

 botanifts ; yet I cannot, with all the attention that 1 have been 

 able to befiow on the fubje<5l, find that the fibres, fo abiirt- 

 danlly interwoven through its bark, have ever been iifed or 

 even taken notice of by any other perfon ; fo that I think we 

 may look upon it as a new difcovery, deferving of more than very promifiog, 

 common attention, on account of the beauty, finenefs, anid 

 llrengfh of thefe fibres. , ' 



It is perennial, grows luxuriantly in the Bolanic garden, and Its growth, 

 has been cut down twice within thefe fix or feven months; To 

 that I think it will, at ieaft, annually afford two or three crops 

 iof (hoots fit for yielding this fubftance. My experience does 

 not yet enable me to ftate how much mdy be' the ycf^rly produce 

 of an acre, but can venture to prognoflicate as large -ai produce as 

 can be obtained froman^creof Dancha, Jtite, Sun, Hemp or Flax, 



To fender this bark fe parable from the half-ligheous ftidots it Treatment t» 

 covers, to foften its external lamina, or .epidermes, and the ^ tavcthefibie, 

 parenchymatous fubftance which firmly conneds the fibres in 

 their natural ftate, maceration in ftagnaat water for from four 

 to eight days, during the warmer parts of the year, anfwers 

 well whilft tl;jree times as many days are fcarce fufficlent during 

 the cold feafon ; indeed, the procefs is fcarcely pradicable then ; 

 befides, the fibres are greatly weakened by the length of the 

 maceration. 



Immediately 



