OTHER VEGETABLE FIBRES. 5«5 



cer(aln price, and ready market for the commodity; and (o 

 have it properly cleaned and packed, to render the Freight 

 as low and convenient as pofTible. Cleaned Camples of this 

 very fubftance were Tent by me, fix or feven years ago, to the 

 Directors; To that the fault is not mine, if it is not already 

 better known than it feems to be. 



The dKcovery of a fabftitute for Ruffian hemp is certainly It can be afrbrd- 

 an objea of the fir ft magnitude. If fun is found to be the ^^^^^^^^^'^"^^"^''^^ 

 ht'il fubftilute yet difcovered, and cofts in India, fay, when 

 properly cleaned, ten pounds per ton, and the freight fixleen 

 pounds, there will dill be a confiderable profit to the mer- 

 chant, particularly in times of war; for, I believe, it rarely 

 happens that hemp fells fo low in London as thirty pdund3 

 per ton. Should (he fubjedl appear of conlequence lo you, I 

 beg you will call the attention of the members of your Society 

 to it. 



That I may not encroach too much on your time, I will 

 clofe this letter by referring you to my friend Mr. Bofwell, 

 the late Marine Storekeeper and Naval Paymafter, for any 

 farther information you may want. I fend this package by 

 liim. Mr. Babb, late a Member of the Board of Trade here, 

 can alfo give you much information. 



I am, dear Sir, 

 Your moft obedient Servant, 



W. Roxburgh. 

 Calcutta, Feb. 27, ISOI. 

 Robert Willet Efq. 



Ohfervaiiom on the Culture, Properties, and comparative Strength 

 of Hemp, Sun, Jute, and other Vegetable Fibres, the Grozvth 

 of India, communicated by Dr. Roxburgh. 



HEMP, contidered merely as an article of trade, is an importance of 



objedl of the firft iroporlance to the merchant ; but, when ^^"^P ^^^ '^}^ 



n c\ • ' r . . /• 1 , 11 very extenfive 



we rerlect on its various ules, and oblerve that hardly any art ^f^ ju focicty. 



can be carried on without its affifiance, or of fome other 



fubftitute; the objeds it embraces are immenfe, and there 



are few that better deferve the attention of the philofopher 



or intelligent artift. Cordage makes the very fmews and 



mufcles of a fliip, and every iniprovemeat vvhich can be made 



in its preparation, either in refped to ilxength, pjiabienefs, 



D 2 or 



