A rtocarpee. | THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. 335 
table fibres, which he subjected to experiment. Average weight with which lines made 
of the different substances broke, were, Asclepias tenacissima, Jetee of the Rajmahl moun- 
taineers, 248; Urtica tenacissima, Calooee,240; the strongest Sunn, Crotolaria juncea, 160. 
_ Hemp, Cannabis sativa, grown in. the year 1800, in the Company’s Hemp Farm near 
Calcutta, 158, but much stronger when tanned. Europe Hemp, however, was always 
found ‘stronger than Sunn, though not more so than the others. Dr. Roxburgh speaks 
of the beauty, fineness, and softness of the fibre of this plant, and says, he learnt from 
a friend resident at Canton, that the grass-cloth of China is made of this material. It 
is cultivated in Sumatra for the fibres of its bark. ‘The Malays use it for sewing-thread 
and twine, and for making fishing-nets. It is as readily cultivated as the willow from 
_ cuttings, grows Juxuriantly in the northern, as in the southern parts of India, throws 
up numerous shoots, as soon as they are cut down, which may be done about five times 
a-year. Dr. Roxburgh, howeyer, found some difficulty in cleaning the fibres of this 
plant, notwithstanding his anxious desire to succeed with this substitute for both hemp 
and. flax. Urtica heterophylla, is another Indian nettle, which sueceeds well m every 
part, and of which the bark abounds in fine white, glossy, silk-like strong fibres (Roxb.) 
The stinging properties of the nettle are well known, but they are all exceeded by the 
last-mentioned plant, as wellas by U.crenulata and-stimulans. 
The Hop (Humulus Lupulus) is another, plant of this family, which affords fibre fit 
for rope and. cloth-making, and which would bea valuable acquisition to India, as 
many situations at moderate elevations are admirably fitted for the brewing of beer. 
In one establishment which I visited several times, the temperature within the buildings 
never varied much from 60°. The Hop is also a remarkable: instance of the change 
of prejudice with regard to the same thing, Thus, at an early period, in the petition 
against it, we hear of it as the ‘ wicked weed called hops;” in a subsequent age we 
find it noted as a subject of admiration, that ‘‘ on Kent’s rich plains green hop-grounds 
scent the gales;” and now, many think, that no beer can be made without it. The 
plant grows wild in most parts of Europe, and is described further south by Bieberstein, 
in his:Flora Tauro-Caueasica, as ‘‘ copiosa in dumetis et sepibus.” It requires a rich 
strong soil, especially if it be rocky a few feet below the surface. It is planted in 
October‘or March, shoots up about the middle of April, flowers in July, and ripens its 
seeds in September. ‘Warm ‘seasons out wet, are required for good crops ;. great 
heat after rains, and high winds, are destructive. It might be cultivated in Nepal, or, 
perhaps, the Deyra Doon; but it is feared that the rainy season would interfere much 
with the proper.growth of the plant. The subject is well-worthy of experiment, and a 
few plants would suffice to ascertain the effects of the seasons. 
; 154. ARTOCARPE. 
“The Artocarpee, separated from -Urticee, may be recognised by their milky juice 
and flowers aggregated in fleshy heads. This is strictly a tropical family, but like 
many such, ‘sends a few species both rerth and south beyond strictly tropical dimits, 
as 
